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I refer to the article by Dr Anna Mallia under the heading “Baby come back” which appeared in last Sunday’s issue of your newspaper on page 16. In that article Dr Mallia states, among other things: “First he (Dr Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici) fired regulations so that lawyers can be tried for breach of security regulations in front of magistrates of his liking and not in front of those on call as is the practice, and now he is expecting us to confirm on oath every time we make an application asking for the case to be postponed because of travelling arrangements…”
For the sake of accuracy please note the following:
1. Legal Notice 128 of 2006, which deals among other things with breach of security procedures, does not contain regulations made either by the Minister or by the Parliamentary Secretary responsible for Justice, but consists of rules of court made by the Rule Making Board established under Section 29 of the Organisation and Civil Procedure. The Board is made up of the Chief Justice, a judge, a magistrate, the Attorney General, the President of the Chamber of Advocates and the President of the Chamber of Legal Procurators.
2. The designation by the President of Malta of two magistrates to deal with all breaches under the said Legal Notice, and therefore not only breaches of security procedures, was made on the recommendation of the Chief Justice in terms of Section 101A(13) of the Constitution.
3. Before the substitution effected by Act XXXI of 2002, subsection (4) of Section 195 of the above mentioned Code already contained a provision requiring that a party requesting an adjournment or his advocate confirm on oath such a request.
Dr Marse-Ann Farrugia
Judicial Assistant and Legal Secretary,
Office of the Chief Justice
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