Human rights judgment postponed 14 times, subject files judicial protest

A man doing time for attempted murder has filed a judicial protest over delays to have his Constitutional Court case decided.

Stephen Pirotta, 48, of Luqa had been jailed for 18 years in 2010 over a road-rage stabbing which nearly killed his victim. A subsequent appeal had confirmed his sentence.

Pirotta’s new legal counsel, lawyers Franco Debono and Marion Camilleri, have attacked his conviction saying that he was denied the right to consult with a lawyer at the time of his interrogation in 2005.

In February 2016 he had filed Constitutional proceedings over a breach of his right to a fair hearing due to the absence of the right to have a lawyer present during his interrogation.

But in a judicial protest filed this afternoon, Pirotta lists no less than 14 consecutive sittings of his Constitutional Case which were postponed for the court to pass judgment on his case.

“The same Constitutional case has been postponed for judgment for almost a year and a half since 20 June 2017,” reads the protest.

“This in Constitutional proceedings about a breach of fundamental rights is not acceptable and is a flagrant breach of the Constitution and the European Convention.”