Nexia BT's Karl Cini claims Speaker's ruling breached his fundamental rights

Nexia BT partner Karl Cini has filed a constitutional case, claiming his fundamental rights had been breached by a ruling by the Speaker of Parliament Anglu Farrugia, who had found a prima facie breach of privilege after Cini refused to testify before the Public Accounts Committee.

In January, Cini, as a partner at the now-shuttered audit firm, had been summoned to testify before the PAC about the Auditor General’s investigation into the tenders awarded to ElectroGas Ltd for the construction and operation of a power station and an LNG terminal. Nexia BT had been involved in the adjudication of bids for the public contract.

In a subsequent ruling on the matter, the Speaker had insisted that Cini could invoke the right to silence on questions relating to matters subject to ongoing judicial proceedings, but could not do so in a blanket manner. The ruling also ordered Cini to provide documentary evidence showing that the matter is, in fact, the subject of court proceedings.

But in a constitutional application filed against the Speaker of the House and the Chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee last Friday, Cini’s lawyers, Stephen Tonna Lowell and Norval Desira argued, amongst other things, that because their client is the subject of criminal proceedings related to money laundering, and that evidence was still being exhibited in court, there was a possibility that the magisterial inquiry where he was a suspect could be exhibited by the prosecution.

The two defendants were “no strangers” to breaches of the fundamental right to a fair trial, said the lawyer, pointing out that in previous similar cases the PAC had chosen to await the outcome of constitutional and European challenges, but had not in Cini’s case. Cini was still awaiting the outcome of a constitutional case which he had filed, argued Tonna Lowell.

The lawyers also argued that Cini was also potentially facing up to 6 months for contempt of the House of Representatives if he failed to testify. Additionally, if found guilty of contempt, Cini’s bail in the money laundering proceedings could also be revoked, on the grounds of violating the condition that he does not commit another offence of a voluntary nature while on bail.

The application requests the court to declare the Guide for Witnesses before the Public Accounts Committee of the House of Representatives breaches his rights to a fair hearing and to protection from arbitrary detention, and that the Speaker’s February 15 ruling also breached those rights.