Updated at 2pm: Adds lawyer's comments
The kidney transplant inmate whose health continues to degenerate as he waits for a lifeline out of jail will have to wait until next month for his constitutional case to resume after Monday's sitting was adjourned.
Christopher Bartolo, the Gozitan convicted of drug trafficking, arrived in court on Monday morning, accompanied by a police officer, only to find out that the day’s case-list before the superior Court of Appeal had been put off owing to the fact that one of the three presiding judges was indisposed. Two out of the three sittings have now been deferred.
Read: Transplant patient back in court as clock ticks on his deteriorating health
Meanwhile, as the clock continues to tick over his precarious state of health, Mr Bartolo’s hope is pinned upon the timely intervention by the President and the Justice Minister.
Last April, the 36-year old Fontana man was condemned to a five-year jail term and a €15,000 fine by the criminal court after pleading guilty to having trafficked 1.5kg of cannabis.
OPINION: The curious case of Christopher Bartolo
A request for bail, pending appeal, especially in view of his particularly fragile health, was turned down by a superior court in August.
However, his lawyers filed a constitutional case claiming that the man’s fundamental right to a fair trial had been breached when he was denied access to a lawyer during police interrogation, a claim which ultimately was upheld by Madam Justice Jacqueline Padovani Grima, presiding over the case.
READ: Stuck in jail despite an invalid confession and failing kidney
In her judgment, handed down in November, Madam Padovani Grima had declared that the applicant’s right to a fair hearing had been breached and had provided for a remedy by affording him the chance to change his guilty plea.
Yet, that remedy could not be rendered effective since the Attorney General had filed an appeal against the judgment, leading to today’s hearing before the Court of Appeal, presided over by Chief Justice Silvio Camilleri and Mr Justices Giannino Caruana Demajo and Noel Cuschieri.
Meanwhile, another attempt in the form of a request to the President asking her to grant Mr Bartolo bail by virtue of a specific provision in the Criminal Code, has so far appeared not to have borne the desired result.
The letter was delivered to the President on December 13, but so far there has been no reply, with sources saying that the President was awaiting advice from the Justice Minister.
This intervention by the President, acting on the advice of the minister, is needed now as a solution pending the ongoing court proceedings, sources speaking to the Times of Malta pointed out. The longer the delay, the less efficacious will this remedy prove to be, they said.
By not taking a decision, they are denying a person a right granted to him by law
Mr Bartolo's lawyer Franco Debono insisted that the minister and the President were duty bound to act.
"By not taking a decision, they are denying a person a right granted to him by law.
“The minister’s declarations show that he mistakenly thinks he can choose not to decide. But although he has a discretion how to decide, he has no such discretion on whether or not to. The law imposes a responsibility on him and waiting for the outcome of a court case goes contrary to the letter and spirit of the law on bail which should always be treated with utmost urgency.”
Dr Debono said he would never comment about an adjournment due to the court’s indisposition. Anything could happen to anyone and he had absolute respect for the courts.
However, it was now even more important for the President to deliver a long overdue decision regarding bail, which had been pending for more than two months.
The minister’s declarations in The Sunday Times of Malta that he would await the court’s decision were tantamount to a misunderstanding of his role according to article 574(2), a possible unintentional dereliction of duty and exposure of the Maltese state to possible liability for damages, Dr Debono said.
Read: Prisoner with transplanted kidney requests bail pending appeal decision
Meanwhile, as the saga surrounding the court cases continues, a medical specialist has re-examined Mr Bartolo and certified that the man’s health has been deteriorating during his time behind bars.
A copy of this certificate was also delivered to President Coleiro Preca, the Times of Malta has been informed.
READ: Inmate blames prison for loss of transplanted kidney
Lawyers Franco Debono, Amadeus Cachia and Marion Camilleri are counsel to Mr Bartolo.