The Magistrates' Court this morning accepted a request for a Constitutional Referral over whether the right to a fair hearing was infringed when the court served as both a court of inquiry and an adjudicator.

The request was made by lawyer Franco Debono, who is representing Sandra Spagnol, a woman accused of allegedly trying to smuggle drugs into the prison.

The case is being heard before the Magistrates' Court, and a Magisterial inquiry (by another magistrate) had been carried out.

Dr Debono argued that in theory there was only one Magistrates' Court and therefore having the court involve both in an investgative and an adjudicating role violated article 39 of the Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights.

The court could not be independent and impartial when a Magistrate could be judge in one minute and then receive a phone call from a police inspector to hold an inquiry a minute later, he said.