The right to a fair hearing was not violated by the fact that a man accused of trafficking heroin had made a statement to the police admitting his guilt when he was not assisted by a lawyer, a judge ruled yesterday.

Mr Justice Tonio Mallia, sitting in the First Hall of the Civil Court, delivered the judgment in a constitutional application filed by Simon Xuereb against the Attorney General.

Mr Xuereb had been arraigned in April 2001 on charges of trafficking heroin. He was jailed for nine years and fined €23,000 after he pleaded guilty.

The sentence was confirmed by the Court of Criminal Appeal, which had, however, slightly reduced the fine.

Mr Xuereb later argued that when he had made his statement to the police he had not been given access to a lawyer and had thus unjustly incriminated himself. That, he pleaded, was in violation of his right to a fair hearing.

Mr Justice Mallia confirmed that the Constitutional Court had, last April, approved the principle that the taking of a statement by the police when the person under investigation was not able to consult a lawyer was in violation of that person’s fundamental human right to a fair hearing.

However, the Constitutional Court had added that the ruling was not to have retroactive effect and could not affect decisions that were final. This was in accordance with case law of the European Court of Human Rights.

Mr Justice Mallia said that Mr Xuereb had admitted his guilt before the court and had appealed to the Court of Criminal Appeal with regard to the sentencing and not with regard to his admission. He had not contested the validity of his statement before the Magistrates’ Court nor before the Criminal Court.

Mr Justice Mallia added that the Criminal Court had not based its judgment solely on Mr Xuereb’s statement but had taken other evidence into consideration and had ruled that there was proof of Mr Xuereb’s involvement in the crime.

Mr Xuereb’s application was, therefore, dismissed.