A magistrate “abdicated his duty” when during an arraignment he failed to follow procedure and this resulted in a man being remanded in custody unlawfully, a defence lawyer charged yesterday.

Lawyer Joe Giglio made the comments in a sitting in which the court upheld his claim of illegal arrest of his client.

Dr Giglio was absent from court on Thursday when his client, Simon Haber, 27, was remanded in custody after he pleaded not guilty to smuggling an immigrant out of the island.

The lawyer said Magistrate Giovanni Grixti, who presided over that arraignment, had breached procedure when he ruled on bail without allowing the lawyer of the accused to make his case. He also pointed out that no reason had been given for this decision, another breach of the law, according to Dr Giglio.

Dr Giglio said he had arrived for the Thursday sitting at the time he was instructed to by the court but on arrival found that the hearing was over and his client had been remanded in custody.

Taking the witness stand, Police Inspector Edel Mary Camilleri said she was asked to testify by Magistrate Grixti and justify why she had arrested Mr Haber.

She had testified that the charges were serious but was asked by the magistrate not to go into detail. The inspector said she recommended that the accused not be put in jail because he might come into contact with a witness who was going to testify against him.

The magistrate had then asked the accused if he was going to plead guilty to which he replied in the negative and the magistrate left the court room, the inspector said. She had to ask the court registrar if the accused had been remanded in custody.

Dr Giglio pointed out that in a ruling by Chief Justice Vincent De Gaetano, in the case the Police vs Bernard Grech, he had stressed that if the appointed lawyer did not turn up, the court should appoint another lawyer.

In this case, this was not done.

Magistrate Scerri Herrera ruled that from the point when the accused was remanded until yesterday evening when the application was heard in court, his detention was illegal.

In her 14-page judgment, the magistrate said this was a classic case of putting the cart before the horse, because the inspector had not objected to bail.

Lawyer Steve Tonna Lowell also appeared.