Declaration from the Office of the Attorney General / Dikjarazzjoni mill-Ufficcju ta' l-Avukat Generali

The Acting Attorney General makes reference to a number of reports which appeared today in some parts of the media, in the sense that the Attorney General or his Office has given directives to the Magistrates on the procedure to be followed, when a person under arrest is brought before the Court for the first time.

The Acting Attorney General declares that neither he nor his office has given or sent to the Magistrates any directives on this issue. The Acting Attorney General confirms that, as is to be expected, he held discussions with the legal officers at his office involved in prosecutions and with the Commissioner of Police on the implications of the recent judgements delivered by the European Court of Human Rights on this issue.

As a result of these discussions, and without entering into the merits of the judgements in question or into the merits of the evaluations and opinions being expressed from various quarters on the current procedure in Malta, he prepared guidelines for the legal officers in his office, as well as for Police prosecuting officers, so that they can be of assistance to the Magistrates as to how the procedure can be regulated in such a way, that domestic law is applied in the light of the considerations made in the said judgements, until such time that any amendments that may be required to the law are implemented.

L-Agent Avukat Generali jaghmel referenza ghal numru ta' rapporti li dehru f'xi oqsma tal-media fis-sens li l-Avukat Generali jew l-Ufficcju tieghu ta xi direttivi lill-Magistrati dwar il-procedura li ghandha tigi segwita, meta persuna arrestata titressaq ghall-ewwel darba quddiem il-Qorti.

L-Agent Avukat Generali jiddikjara li la hu u anqas l-Ufficcju tieghu ma ta, jew baghat, xi direttivi lill-Magistrati fuq din il-kwistjoni. L-Agent Avukat Generali jikkonferma li, kif wiehed jistenna, kellu diskussjonijiet ma' l-ufficjali legali fl-ufficcju tieghu li huma involuti fil-prosekuzzjonijiet, u mal-Kummissarju tal-Pulizija dwar l-implikazzjonijiet tas-sentenzi ricenti li nghataw mill-Qorti Ewropea dwar id-Drittijiet tal-Bniedem.

Bhala rizultat ta' dawn id-diskussjonijiet u minghajr ma gie diskuss il-mertu tas-sentenzi msemmija, jew il-mertu ta' l-apprezzamenti u opinjonijiet li saru minn diversi nhawi fuq il-procedura kurrenti f'Malta, huwa pprepara linji ta' gwida ghall-ufficjali legali fl-ufficcju tieghu, kif ukoll ghall-ufficjali prosekuturi tal-Pulizija, sabiex dawn jistghu jkunu ta' assistenza lill-Magistrati, dwar kif il-procedura tista' tigi regolata b'tali mod, li l-ligi domestika tigi applikata fid-dawl tal-kunsiderazzjonijiet li saru fis-sentenzi sakemm isiru dawk l-emendi fil-ligi li jistghu jkunu necessarji.