In the past few days, I have been having discussions with various sources and private lawyers to understand in layman terms what is actually going on about the refusals to Jason Azzopardi’s requests for Magisterial Inquiries. His requests have been refused on multiple occasions on various technicalities, with the Minister for the Economy now claiming victory by the law over the attempt to have him investigated over his shady public land deals.
I have also acquired a copy of the official refusal for the Magisterial Inquiry on Economy Minister Silvio Schembri and his public land deals. You can read the full rejection document here. The document is full of spelling mistakes and inarticulate sentences. The Magistrate also admits to having spoken to the Minister for the Economy. You can see the conclusion below.
The refusal says that the inquiry can not be opened because the evidence is based on press reports. This is the first time that such a refusal for a Magisterial Inquiry was made on these grounds. The previous Magisterial Inquiries about Vitals and 17 Black were also opened on the basis of press reports and investigations. In addition, it was already previously accepted by the Courts that public matters do affect the private citizen, and this is also why the citizen has the right to address these public matters by legal and Court means.
The refusal was hastily written and wasn’t given much thought. This is clear in the writing. My sources have informed me that the Judiciary is currently refusing new Magisterial Inquiries because the law is going to change. These sources have regular conversations with the Judiciary as part of their work. I could not confirm the specific cases which were rejected on these grounds, but this raison d’etre has become prevalent in the Judiciary right now and which also comes with a sense of resignation.
Technically, the law has to be applied as it is, and the authorities can not avoid applying the law because they know, or they assume that the law is going to change.
Currently, there is also another issue which has been clouded by the government’s intention to clamp down on Magisterial Inquiries. The haphazard and reckless way Harbinson Forensics conducted their work may jeopardise the whole Vitals case and this issue is being raised more frequently in discussions as the investigator who was paid millions to conduct the inquiry is refusing to come to Malta to testify. There are serious and genuine concerns about the Vitals Magisterial Inquiry and these concerns are not being discussed publicly so as to avoid allowing the government to further its abuse in covering up for corrupt politicians. This issue will be discussed in another article. some Magistrates have become so frustrated with the situation that they don’t even want to have anything to do with Magisterial Inquiries.
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