A judge will continue hearing two cases, filed by three men facing criminal proceedings over the Enemalta oil procurement scandal, after he decided the court had jurisdiction to decide on a ruling by the Speaker.

One of the cases was initiated by former Enemalta consultant Frank Sammut and the other by Cassar Ship Repair chairman Anthony Cassar and Francis Portelli, a director of Virtu Ferries Ltd.

These were filed after the three men had been summoned to testify before Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee looking into oil procurement irregularities uncovered by the Auditor General.

As they are facing criminal proceedings in connection with the oil scandal, in which they are pleading not guilty to corruption, they informed the House committee they wished to exercise their right to remain silent for fear of incriminating themselves.

However, they were told that, according to a ruling by the Speaker, Anġlu Farrugia, and according to Parliament’s guidelines for witnesses, they had to give evidence. They were also informed that, should they object to any question, the Speaker would decide whether they had to answer.

In their applications against the Speaker and committee chairman Jason Azzopardi, which they filed at the First Hall of the Civil Court in its constitutional jurisdiction, the three men asked the court to declare that the Speaker’s rulings and the guidelines mentioned were in breach of their right to a fair hearing as laid down in the Constitution.

Both Dr Farrugia and Dr Azzopardi argued that the courts did not have the jurisdiction to decide on a ruling of the Speaker or on the content of the guidelines in question because the Constitution gave Parliament the power to regulate itself.

Mr Justice Joseph Zammit McKeon, however, noted that the Constitution laid down that Parliament could regulate its proceeding so long as they did not violate the provisions of the Constitution, which protected the right to a fair hearing.

For this reason, the judge ruled that the court could decide on the matter and ordered the continuation of both cases.