Former Pilatus Bank official asks to appeal court's rejection of her inclusion request in nolle prosequi case

Pilatus Bank’s former risk manager has sought leave to appeal the rejection of her request for inclusion as a party to Repubblika’s case against the Attorney General, over the failure to prosecute Pilatus’ senior officials.

In that case, Repubblika alleged that last year, Attorney General Victoria Buttigieg had issued a nolle prosequi, (an order not to prosecute) Gauci, just four months after the public prosecutor received a 600,000-page report relating to the inquiry into the now-shuttered bank, which recommended prosecuting a number of its officials, Gauci amongst them.

Gauci’s lawyer Roberto Montalto subsequently filed an application before the First Hall of the Civil Court, asking that Gauci be admitted as a party to the proceedings. 

However, the request was rejected, with the judge pointing out that the right to initiate criminal proceedings was one entrusted to the police and the Attorney General and not the person under investigation. Such a person had no right to stop the police or the Attorney General from doing so, nor to choose what charges would be issued, Falzon Scerri ruled, in his interlocutory decree.

In terms of the Code of Organisation and Civil Procedure, special permission from the issuing court is required in order to file an appeal from an interlocutory decree.

On December 5, Gauci’s lawyer filed an application requesting authorisation from the court to appeal the ruling. The court scheduled a sitting next week, in order to hear submissions on this application.