Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/258814
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2014 News 5 Magistrate's refusal to deny involvement in freemasonry 'unacceptable' Bill to provide police with stronger tools in fight against sexual abuse of minors MIRIAM DALLI THE government should have first presented an impeachment motion against Magistrate Carol Peralta, before asking the Commission for the Administration of Justice (CAJ) to investigate him, Nationalist MP Beppe Fenech Adami said yesterday in parliament. Two months ago, the government asked the CAJ to investigate Mag- istrate Carol Peralta after the latter held Christmas drinks in his court- room and arrested a Times of Malta reporter for three hours for taking snapshots of the 'irregular' party. The government will decide on whether to present an impeachment motion according to the CAJ's find- ings, but presenting an impeach- ment motion would require govern- ment to file this request with the CAJ again which then has to hold an official investigation on the motion itself. "Government should have first filed the impeachment motion. We all know what happens now... the CAJ may take a year to finish its investigation, then government presents the motion, then we go back to the CAJ and everyone gets out scot-free," Fenech Adami said. The CAJ's investigation into judge Lino Farrugia Sacco's impeach- ment motion (see page 24) took over a year, only for the government present a new motion after it was declared invalid following Lawrence Gonzi's resignation. Fenech Adami said it was deplora- ble that Farrugia Sacco also chose to sit on the International Committee of Mediterranean Games, after all that had happened following his ob- stinate involvement with the Malta Olympic Committee in breach of the judiciary's code of ethics. Turning his attention to Per- alta's case, Fenech Adami said it was scandalous that the magistrate deemed concerns raised by both government and the opposition into his behaviour as "insignificant". "Peralta's actions were totally un- acceptable and only served to un- dermine the public's trust in the ju- diciary and its members. In front of the protests raised by the public, the magistrate remained defiant, only to describe our statements as insignifi- cant. What the Opposition said and what the Prime Minister said were insignificant for him," he said. The Nationalist MP also took Peral- ta to task over his refusal to deny any involvement in freemasonry. Asked by MaltaToday whether he was still a freemason, Peralta had refused to answer, simply saying it was not illegal, and that ample court judgements existed saying that there was no conflict between him being a freemason and a member of the judi- ciary. "The fact alone that he refused to deny any involvement is serious. It is unacceptable that any individual oc- cupying a public role is a member of a secret society," he said. Fenech Adami went on to question what was government's position vis- à-vis individuals who formed part of a secret society: "It is government's role to ensure that no one holding a public post is a freemason. It is wrong and immoral, a society that only serves the interests of its members." MIRIAM DALLI THE government is proposing the harshening of penalties against in- dividuals caught sexually abusing of minors, the exploitation of minors or trading in child pornography. The proposed laws also provide the police with stronger tools in its fight against child abuse. Parliamentary Secretary for Jus- tice Owen Bonnici yesterday pre- sented the first in a series of bills proposing a number of amendments under the justice reform. Headed by former European Court of Human Rights judge Giovanni Bonello, the justice reform com- mission presented government with 450 proposals. As the first set of proposals require changes to the Constitution, Bonni- ci said the government will seek the Opposition's consensus – especially given that a number of proposals re- quire the approval of two-thirds of the House. Other changes only re- quire an absolute majority. "Whatever the changes are, the government will be seeking the Op- position's consensus," Bonnici said, adding that meetings held with shadow minister Beppe Fenech Adami have been fruitful and will lead to "historic and important" changes. The first set of proposals include amendments to strengthen the role of the Commission for the Ad- ministration of Justice, the judici- ary watchdog deemed not to have "strong enough teeth" to properly scrutinise members of the judiciary. The second set of proposals es- sentially require a change in law or implementation of new policies. Government has committed itself to implement 100 of these propos- als without further delay. The first set of proposals amend the criminal code. "Soon, the government will be putting forward proposals for the appointment of a judge for Gozo," Bonnici said. The junior minister announced that a seminar – held without the participation of the media – will be organised for stakeholders to dis- cuss proposals to the justice reform before these are implemented. Gov- ernment is also planning a meeting with the MCESD during which the proposals will be explained in de- tail. The third set of proposals – half of the proposals recommended by the justice reform commission – re- quire the setting up of new structure and substantial investment. Bonnici said his parliamentary secretariat, together with the Finance Minis- try, were currently locked in talks to coordinate the necessary funds. The government was also studying the possibility of tapping into EU funds. The bill presented yesterday pro- poses a number of amendments to the criminal code, including the possibility for a person charged with a crime carrying over 10 years imprisonment is given the possibil- ity to plead guilty, plea bargaining or even appear before the criminal court during the compilation of evi- dence. In other words, if the accused wants to immediately plead guilty, he can do so without first having to wait for the compilation of evidence to be finalised, receiving his sen- tence in a shorter period of time. This proposal would mostly af- fect foreigners charged with drug trafficking and the sentence would be handed down by the Criminal Court. "This however requires the introduction of plea bargaining, whereby the prosecution and the defence negotiate on the punish- ment – something which cannot take place today." The bill proposes the strengthen- ing of the right to legal aid during arrest, which the justice reform commission branded "weak". These also include the right to an inter- preter and a translator – many law- yers agree that sometimes foreign- ers plea guilty to charges without fully understanding what they were admitting to. According to Bonnici, the bill in- troduces an important clause which gives the suspected or arrested in- dividual the right to access infor- mation, allowing him or his lawyer the possibility to effectively attack to the legality of an arrest or deten- tion thus safeguarding the fairness of procedures. It also gives the ac- cused time to prepare his defence. "Such a radical introduction in our system will give us the opportunity for a full revision of the procedural concepts during compilation and, if well implemented, could lead us to a paper committal system." Bonnici added that the govern- ment will be giving the Police Corps four months to prepare itself before this clause is introduced. The draft bill proposes the harsh- ening of penalties against the cor- ruption of minors, instigating minors to fall prey to prostitution circles, forcing them to take part in sexual activities or the advertising of sexual tourism. The junior minister pointed out that while many welcomed the Whistleblowers Act, yet the par- liamentary secretariat has noted "a resistance" for complaints to be filed. "Many still fear what could hap- pen to them if it is revealed they had been the one to blow the whis- tle. It is important for the public to understand that this law protects them and safeguards them." Bonnici said the government believed that it was time for it to continue building on the witness protection programme so that in- dividuals – even those involved in the act of corruption – are protect- ed if they choose to come forward and reveal the corruption. It is also proposed that the whistleblower receives a lighter punishment or none at all. Owen Bonnici