The decision brought Malta in line with judgments delivered by the European Court of Human Rights, which on more than one occasion decreed that denying an arrested person the right to see his lawyer was in breach of the fundamental right to a fair trial.
But the government’s reluctance over the years to recognise this right has landed the criminal justice system in hot water.
The first signs appeared last month when in a landmark decision, the Constitutional Court held that the right to a fair trial was breached of a man arraigned on drug-related charges, because he was not given the opportunity to consult a lawyer before making a statement to police. Since then, two more cases were decided in a similar manner, and two trials were put off, pending a decision by the Constitutional Court raising fears that the justice system will grind to a halt.
Joe Giglio, a top criminal lawyer, is less fatalistic in his assessment but no less scathing in his criticism towards legislators for allowing the situation to reach this stage.
“What is happening is a result of the legislator’s reluctance to take note of developments in the European Court of Human Rights. For years, we either slept on them or perhaps pretended they were not happening.”
Categories: Human Rights, Malta