|
Karl Schembri
The European Court of Human Rights’ ruling last Thursday confirming that Meinrad Calleja’s right to liberty was breached because of his lengthy detention before trial, sets a standard that Maltese courts and the Attorney General would have to keep in consideration in future cases.
The court found that Calleja, who was arrested in 1995 and charged with trafficking in dangerous drugs and in 1996 with involvement in the attempted murder of the Prime Minister’s personal assistant, had his right to a trial within a reasonable time breached after more than four years in detention awaiting trial.
At the European Court, Calleja complained about the length of his pre-trial detention – a point that had already been accepted by the Civil Court in December 2000 when Mr Justice Geoffrey Valenzia had declared Calleja’s arrest at Corradino prison – four and a half years pending trial – as unconstitutional, leaving it up to the Criminal Court to determine the bail conditions.
Mr Justice Valenzia had ruled that the duration of the applicant’s pre-trial detention had infringed Calleja’s right to a fair trial within a reasonable time and that he was entitled provisionally to be released under conditions guaranteeing his appearance at the trial.
The Civil Court’s judgement was however overturned by the Constitutional Court following an appeal by then Attorney General Anthony Borg Barthet and the Police Commissioner to keep Calleja under arrest.
The European Court’s ruling confirms Mr Justice Valenzia’s judgement.
“The Court found that the reasons given for Mr Calleja’s continued detention had not been sufficient to justify his being kept in detention for such a period, and accordingly concluded unanimously that there had been a violation of Article 5.3,” the European Court said, awarding Calleja around Lm4,000 (EUR9,832) for damages and expenses.
“As to the length of the proceedings, they had lasted seven years, eight months and 17 days,” the court said. “Having regard to the circumstances of the case, the Court considered that this period was excessive and failed to meet the ‘reasonable time’ requirement.”
Attorney General Silvio Camilleri said after the judgement that the ruling did not set any new legal point, but Ian Refalo, Calleja’s legal counsel, said the courts would have to be sensitive to the ruling.
“The Civil Courts had already recognised the points made by the European Court, so I agree that the ruling does not affect Maltese law although the courts would have to be sensitive to European Court’s position,” Prof. Refalo said.
Speaking to MaltaToday, Meinrad Calleja said: “The European Court has proved that, despite the Attorney General’s vehement appeal to deny me bail, the Maltese courts are not infallible.”
karl@newsworksltd.com
|
