Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1487671
4 NEWS maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 7 DECEMBER 2022 4 NEWS www.pa.org.mt PLANNING AUTHORITY The role requires a person to assist in the design, development, testing and maintenance of information and spatial systems, with the appropriate training, documentation and support. Successful candidates must be in possession of the following: Qualificati ons Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science Or Spatial Systems or a relevant degree with sufficient amount of computing, or IT/spatial technical content. E xperienc e Experience in an Information and Spatial Systems area will be considered an asset. S kills Proven presentation, analytical and communication skills. Candidates are to present scanned copies of all qualifications with their application together with proof of local equivalence, for certificates which are not issued by University of Malta or MCAST, which equivalence documentation is issued by Malta Further and Higher Education Authority (MFHEA). Candidates who are in possession of a foreign degree/s, are also to present a translated copy of their degree/s in English. All certificates and equivalence documentation are to be presented with the application, by the closing date for submissions. The position carries a starting annual salary and allowances of €24,542, a performance bonus and other benefits. Candidates who are 3rd country nationals, are to have a valid working permit by the closing date for submissions of the call, which permit is to be presented with their application. The above post is for an indefinite period. Interested candidates are advised to submit their application, by sending an application via email on jobapplicati ons@ pa.org.mt together with a detailed curriculum vitae in pdf format by not later than Tuesday, 20 th D ec ember 2022 to: The Human Resources Manager Planning Authority Ref: Assistant Offic er (Informati on Systems D evelopment) Jobsplus Permit No. 278/2021 For further information visit our website: www.pa.org.mt/en/ vacancies Vacancy will be filled on the basis of the internal call result, and when this process is exhausted through Government wide Expression of Interest and/or through Jobsplus procedure, as applicable. JOIN OuR TEAm ASSISTANT OFFICER (INFORMATION SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT) Career OppOrtunity vacancy.indd 1 30/11/2022 12:13:01 MATTHEW AGIUS THE Constitutional Court has rejected Patrick Spiteri's request for the re-hearing of a case in which a court had ruled that his fundamental rights had not been breached by his arrest and subse- quent bail conditions. Last July three judges presiding over the Constitutional Court recused themselves from pre- siding over the re-hearing of the case filed by the disbarred for- mer lawyer, in view of the fact that two of them had delivered the judgement around which his constitutional claim revolved. Spiteri, who is facing fraud and misappropriation charges in a €7.4 million case dating back 20 years, had been arrested in Sur- rey, England in 2017 and extra- dited to Malta. He was eventually granted bail on several conditions so that he does not leave the Mal- tese islands. In June 2019, he asked the courts to relax his bail conditions to allow him to travel abroad and attend work-related meetings every so often. Initially rejected, a second request was upheld in September of that year. An ap- peal by the Attorney General was then upheld by the Criminal Court, which ruled that Spiteri's bail conditions were not to be changed. Spiteri's subsequent request the same court reconsider this decree was also turned down in Novem- ber 2019, and earlier in March 2022 the Constitutional Court rejected his claim that the courts had breached his fundamental rights. Then in May 2022 Spiteri filed for a retrial of his constitutional case, requesting a ruling on cer- tain points of European law. The AG and the Commissioner of Police argued that Spiteri had no legal right to request a retrial in constitutional proceedings. On 22 June, three judges pre- siding the Constitutional Court had recused themselves, at the request of Spiteri's lawyers, in view of the fact that the same judges had also handed down the March judgement he was challenging. The lawyers, Stefano Filletti, Mark Refalo and Sarah Grech, had argued that the court failed to apply the principle of supremacy of European law, which requires that a European Arrest Warrant be separate and distinct from an arrest warrant issued under ordi- nary Maltese law. But In a judgement delivered earlier today, the Constitutional Court, presided over by judges Joseph R. Micallef, Tonio Mall- ia and Christian Falzon Scerri turned down Spiteri's retrial re- quest. Besides being an extraordinary remedy which could only be ap- plied in certain situations which are clearly defined at law, a retrial of a case decided by the Constitu- tional Court was not legally pos- sible, said the judges. This is because such a remedy was not contemplated in the law and this position had been reiter- ated time and again in case law. Amendments to the Code of Organisation and Civil Procedure in 2005 and 2007 introduced the possibility of the retrial of cases heard by the First Hall of the Civil Court in its Constitutional juris- diction, but the legislator had not extended this option to include decisions of the Constitutional Court. In a sitting in October, Spiteri's lawyers had disagreed with the position established in jurispru- dence, arguing that articles 46 and 95 of the Constitution, which lay down the jurisdiction of the First Hall of the Civil Court in its Constitutional jurisdiction and that of the Constitutional Court, respectively, permitted a retrial. But in their judgement reject- ing the request, the judges point out that the articles cited made no mention of retrial and gave no comfort to Spiteri's arguments. Neither did other references he made to dispositions of the Court Practice and Procedure and Good Order Rules, which the court noted, only stated that the articles of the Code of Organisa- tion and Civil Procedure regulat- ing proceedings also applied to proceedings before the Constitu- tional Court. The fact that the legislator had not changed this law, despite it being the subject of numerous court cases, confirmed that it was not the legislator's intention to do so, said the judges. They remarked that this position was well-founded, as instead of re- questing a retrial, a plaintiff had the option of petitioning the Eu- ropean Court of Human Rights in view of Malta's ratification of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. "Although the Maltese legal sys- tem does not use the principle of precedent, however argumentum simili valet in lege (an argument drawn from a similar case, or analogy, avails in law) remains a sacrosanct principle." In light of this, the court up- held the nullity argument raised by the Attorney General and the Commissioner of Police, de- claring that it could not proceed further with Spiteri's request for a retrial because this action was not permitted by law. The judges ordered Spiteri to bear all costs related to this case "since it was he who pointlessly filed this ap- plication." Court throws out Patrick Spiteri request for human rights case to be re-heard Patrick Spiteri