Lawyers are relieved to hear that a one-month deadline to file applications on behalf of clients who can benefit from legal amendments, and receive a lesser punishment, only applies to a small fraction of their cases.

It turns out the deadline does not apply to all pending cases but only those cases in which a bill of indictment has been issued. These amount to about 40 cases, explained Malta Chamber of Advocates President Reuben Balzan.

This was clarified during a meeting held between the Chamber of Advocates and Justice Minister Owen Bonnici on Wednesday to iron out concerns raised by lawyers.

Earlier last week, Times of Malta had reported that lawyers were worried about the tight one-month deadline imposed by amendments that apply to drug and money laundering cases.

The amendments allow people to challenge the previously unfettered discretion of the Attorney General to decide whether a person is tried in the Magistrates’ Court or face trial by jury in the Criminal Court. Those tried in the latter court face longer jail time.

Under the amendments, people whose case started before the amendments came into force, on August 14, had a month to challenge the Attorney General’s decision.

Lawyers agreed that the amendments were positive but felt the transitory one-month provision did not give them enough time, especially since it came during summer holidays when many were away.

They said that those lawyers who had many drug or money laundering cases had to sift through their countless files, establish who was eligible, contact the clients and draw up the applications. This took lots of time per case and clients were not always easily contactable.

But, during Wednesday’s meetings, it emerged that the deadline did not apply to all pending drug and money laundering cases, much to the relief of lawyers, Dr Balzan said.