Attorney General can be summoned as witness in Egrant case filed by Opposition leader

The constitutional court has decided to accept Opposition leader Adrian Delia’s request to call the Attorney General as a witness

Attorney General Peter Grech will have to take the witness stand
Attorney General Peter Grech will have to take the witness stand

Attorney General Peter Grech will have to take the witness stand in the case filed by Adrian Delia over the Egrant inquiry report.

Grech had objected to the list of witnesses submitted by the Opposition leader, saying they were “irrelevant” to the issue at stake.

But the civil court in its constitutional jurisdiction on Monday agreed to Delia’s request to summon the AG as a witness. However, the court also said the AG could not be asked questions intended to reveal the contents of the magisterial inquiry.

Delia is asking the court to order the AG to give him a full copy of the Egrant inquiry report. The court will have to determine whether the AG exercised his discretion correctly and whether it caused political discrimination.

Speaking on the Granaries yesterday, Delia accused the AG of being “a threat to democracy” in refusing to hand over a copy of the inquiry to the Opposition.

Delia is arguing in court that the AG’s decision was causing political imbalance and effectively preventing the Opposition from scrutinising government’s actions.

Delia had submitted a list of 23 witnesses he would like to summon as part of the case.

The list includes the prime minister and the attorney general, the latter also in his capacity as chairman of the FIAU.

READ ALSO: Opposition leader’s role on Egrant inquiry ‘stultified’ by Attorney General

Grech’s lawyers had argued that the Opposition leader could not put questions in an attempt to obtain information which went beyond the ambit of the case.

The crux of the case was to determine whether the AG had exercised his discretion correctly and whether his decision had resulted in any discrimination. 

The Egrant inquiry was concluded in July and the AG released the magistrate’s conclusions but stopped short of publishing the full inquiry. Prime Minister Joseph Muscat was handed the full inquiry on the basis that he had requested it.

The prime minister has insisted that he wants to publish the full inquiry but all legal advice to date has been not to do so.

Last week, Muscat reiterated his commitment to publish the full inquiry but said he will wait the outcome of the court case initiated by Delia.