MALTA
The Malta Independent
by Francesca Vella
Article published on 22 April 2012
As the Attorney General lost an appeal relating to a defrocked priest having been cleared of rape due to a mistake in the charge sheet, the Justice Ministry insisted that correcting the charge sheet “at an advanced stage of the case” would have been too risky because it could have led to the case being time-barred and dropped altogether.
A few days ago, the Opposition’s spokesmen for justice and home affairs, José Herrera and Michael Falzon, said the mistake in the charge sheet could have been revised when there was the opportunity to do so. They also said then Justice Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici should assume political responsibility for the lack of investment in the Office of the Attorney General, which deals with prosecutions among other things.
The Justice Ministry said however, that the matter has nothing to do with the number of people employed at the AG’s Office, and Dr Herrera and Dr Falzon’s declaration about political responsibility shows that the PL believes there could be some form of political interference in the AG’s office.
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