The Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs this evening said that it found an Appeals Court decision that three policemen had been unfairly dismissed as 'somewhat innovative' and hit out at comments by the Leader of the Opposition about the case.

"It is very unfair that now that the Court of Appeal in a somewhat innovative sentence, has declared that the right to a fair hearing applies also in such circumstances, even at the risk that a €2.3 million theft and money laundering taking place, the leader of the opposition is implying that the government hasno sensitivity to the right to a fair hearing."

Earlier today, Dr Muscat said that while he would not go into the merits of the case, it was worrying that the police officers had not been given the right to a fair hearing before they were dismissed.

In its reaction, the ministry explained that during the course of investigation into serious crimes, the police had learnt that police officers were in contact with persons who were under investigation.

Had a hearing been held before these officers were dismissed, the police would have had to show their hand.

At the time when the case took place, the police knew, even on the basis of previous cases, that the law allowed them not to reveal their hand to the suspects about the stage of investigations and the methods that were being used.

This view was upheld by the Public Service Commission, which recommended the dismissal of the officers in the public interest.

The ministry denied that the Minister of Justice and Home Affairs ever said that the dismissal of the officers was rejected by the court on the basis of a technicality. What had been said was that the court had decided on the basis of the procedure that was followed.

The ministry noted that it was under the present government that the reasons for judicial review of administrative actions were extended. The government took this decision despite the risk that its decisions might be misunderstood by the public. Nonetheless, democracy demanded that the government must submit to the courts, while continuing to take whatever action was allowed by law to protect the public from crime.