Cabinet decision to not grant presidential pardon to Yorgen Fenech upheld

A technical formality has faltered Yorgen Fenech’s case against a Cabinet decision denying him a presidential pardon.

The First Hall of the Civil Court, presided by Mr Justice Francesco Depasquale, upheld the State Advocate’s plea.

The alleged Daphne Caruana Galizia murder mastermind’s lawyer had filed an application to obtain a judicial review of the cabinet decision. An essential prerequisite when filing an action against government is a judicial letter or protest, but such a letter was not submitted.

The respondents’ lawyers pointed out the short coming, leading the court to uphold the plea, declaring the action null.

At the end of a seven-hour long cabinet meeting in November, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat had announced that the Tumas magnate had asked for a presidential pardon three times, all of which were denied.

“The detailed recommendation of the AG and the Commissioner of Police was that there was no reason to issue the pardon to Fenech, and the Cabinet accepted this reasoning, unanimously, who decided that it’s not fit to grant a pardon,” Muscat had said.