Garnishee orders against the press should be prohibited as there was no need for such a “disproportionate” measure in a democratic society based on fundamental rights and freedoms, says the dean of the Faculty of Laws.
The Times of Malta sought Kevin Aquilina’s reaction to the controversy surrounding Economy Minister Chris Cardona who, two days ago, slapped blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia with a €47,460 garnishee order.
Consequently, an equivalent sum was frozen from the blogger’s bank accounts for the duration of proceedings in connection with two libel suits filed by Dr Cardona and his EU presidency policy officer, Joseph Gerada.
READ: European journalists back Caruana Galizia
The two felt aggrieved after Ms Caruana Galizia alleged they had visited a brothel while on official duty in Germany. Both men deny the claims.
Prof. Kevin Aquilina. Photo: University of MaltaIn a statement, Dr Cardona said he believed in freedom of expression but argued that lies aimed at spreading hatred and division were not journalism.
Though the garnishee order is perfectly legal, it prompted harsh criticism from newspaper editors, political parties and the Institute of Maltese Journalists who deemed the measure too excessive and an affront to the freedom of the press.
Moreover, questions were raised about whether freezing assets from the very start of proceedings contradicted the cardinal principle of the presumption of innocence: being considered innocent until proven guilty.
Asked whether he subscribed to such views, Prof. Aquilina said a garnishee order against a journalist was a “disproportionate” measure. “It serves to create fear in journalists that their private assets could be targeted – depriving them of their principal means of livelihood,” he said.
The law expert noted that a distinction should be made between cases involving such action against individual journalists and others against the media company employing them. If the company could keep its publishing activity running notwithstanding the garnishee order, which was not always the case, freedom of expression might not be threatened, he said.
However, from a right to free-media perspective, the situation would be “more intolerable” if the garnishee order was directed against journalists in their personal capacity, Prof. Aquilina pointed out.
Acknowledging that such course of action might be legal under the Code of Organisation and Civil Procedure (COCP), he expressed deep reservations.
“I fail to see the pressing need in a democratic society based on the respect of fundamental rights and freedoms for the issue of such a precautionary order when it is addressed both at a journalist (whether freelance or employed) or a media house – whom the European Court of Human Rights and even our own courts consider to be the watchdogs of society,” he argued.
He therefore called for an amendment in the COCP to ban the issue of a precautionary (as opposed to an executive) garnishee order against the press, whether it be an individual journalist or a media house.
Meanwhile, Opposition leader Simon Busuttil pledged that a Nationalist government would remove “all gags” on free expression such as criminal libel and the precautionary garnishee.
In a statement, the PN denounced the freezing of the blogger’s assets saying it was an extreme attack on freedom of the press and democracy.
The issue is expected to be raised in Brussels, with Nationalist MEP David Casa saying he would be asking the European Commission to condemn such practices.
The Democratic Party called on the government to remove “draconian” laws that were “muzzling the press”. Failure to do so would result in the presentation of a private member’s Bill, it said.
PN candidate starts fund
Over €50,000 were raised in just over 24 hours in aid of blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia through an online legal fund in US dollars.
Set up in the wake of the €47,000 garnishee order issued against her at the request of the Economy Minister and one of his aides, the fund aims to raise €56,000.
More than 540 donations, varying from $5 up to $1,000, were made in just 19 hours.
The initiative was taken by PN candidate David Thake, even though Ms Caruana Galizia has no official links with the party.
Welcoming the initiative, the blogger said that, once the required sum to cover the garnishee order was reached, the rest would be donated to charity, in this case to Dar Merħba Bik.
MEP Metsola writes to European Commission vice-president
In a letter to European Commission vice-president Frans Timmermans, PN MEP Roberta Metsola wrote of her "deep concern" at the government's "underlying message of intimidation to all journalists."
She urged the Commission to pronounce itself on the issue.
"Does it consider the intimidation of the media acceptable?" she asked Mr Timmermans. "Will it reach out to the Maltese authorities to stand up for the protection of EU values?"
Should the situation not improve, Dr Metsola added, she would be bringing the issue to the attention of the Civil Liberties committee of the European Parliament.