Patrick Dalli insults Chief Justice in open court after son's drug trafficking statement deemed admissible

Patrick Dalli, husband to European Commissioner Helena Dalli, dramatically lashed out at Chief Justice Mark Chetcuti in a courtroom on Wednesday morning, after the judge rejected his son’s claim of having suffered a fundamental rights breach when he was jailed on drug trafficking charges.

The couple’s younger son, Jean-Marc Dalli, had been sentenced to imprisonment for 3 months in 2021 after being found guilty of trafficking ecstasy at a party in Paola in 2013.

Jean-Marc Dalli was 18 years old when he had been caught red-handed while handing over six ecstasy pills to another man outside a party at the old prisons in Corradino in September 2013.

Deciding the case this morning, the Chief Justice read out the last part of the decision he had reached together with judges Giannino Caruana Demajo and Anthony Ellul, confirming the original rejection by the First Hall of the Civil Court in its Constitutional jurisdiction of Dalli’s claim, and ordered him to pay double court costs in view of the vain nature of the man’s claim. 

The court also ordered that the appeal filed in Dalli’s criminal case continue to be heard

.“Case law is clear in that the fact that a person suspected of committing a crime releases a statement without the assistance of a lawyer does not necessarily lead to a breach of fundamental rights in criminal proceedings taken against that person.”

“To date, the only certainty is that the judgement [by the Court of Magistrates], which is subject to appeal… had found the applicant guilty on a basis independent from his statement," reads the judgement.

“It is crystal clear to this court that so far there is nothing to indicate that the applicant did not receive a fair hearing or is likely not to have a fair hearing before the Court of Criminal Appeal and therefore he suffered no prejudice. Rather, his complaint only served to continue lengthening the criminal proceedings uselessly.”

As the decision was read out, the defendant’s father, Patrick Dalli stood up and, in a loud voice, addressed the Chief Justice directly, demanding that the judge give a reason for his decision and explain why it had taken so long to decide his son’s case.

“10 years to expunge” exclaimed the man, referring to the defendant’s statement, which was the central issue in the case.

“You should be ashamed of yourself!” he shouted at the judge inside the packed courtroom, throwing a crumpled piece of paper at him, as court ushers struggled through the crowd to reach the angry father,whose rant had progressed to accusing the court of being part of a secret society. “Mafia! Corruption, Freemasonry and Opus Dei!,” cried the man, his voice breaking with emotion as he was eventually bundled out of the courtroom. Even then, his shouts of “mafia” were heard to continue for a while.

Luke Dalli: "We only ask for closure."

In a social media reaction to news reports about the decision and countroom incident, Jean-Marc Dalli's elder brother, TV presenter and lawyer Luke Dalli said the family felt helpless and hearbroken when contemplating their 10-year wait for a decision in this case. "There is [only] so much one can endure, We never asked for favors, or anything that goes against the spirit of the law. We only ask for closure... Today's outburst was a cry by a hurt, sincere citizen for justice. Not just our case, but for all those who have their lives completely wrecked by such delays in proceedings. Justice delayed is justice denied," he wrote.