[WATCH] Court orders Egrant report to be released to Adrian Delia, but not published

Adrian Delia wins Egrant report case

The Court of Appeal has ruled that the full Egrant report is to be released to Adrian Delia, but not published.

Chief Justice Joseph Azzopardi, Mr Justice Giannino Caruana Demajo and Mr Justice Anthony Ellul handed down judgment in the case demanding the publication, which had been filed by Opposition Leader Adrian Delia.

That demand had not been upheld at first instance, the court ruling that the Prime Minister could suffer worse prejudice from its publication than Delia and finding no breach of the latter’s rights.

Last month the court heard lawyers for both sides make submissions.

The conclusions of the Egrant inquiry were published last year but the AG has so far refused to publish the full report. However, a copy was given to the Prime Minister.

It was Joseph Muscat who had asked for the magisterial inquiry in 2017 after allegations published on Daphne Caruana Galizia’s blog linked his wife Michelle Muscat to Panama company Egrant.

The AG had argued that because of the delicate constitutional nature of the inquiry there was a decision to give a copy to the Prime Minister, but that this did not mean there was an obligation to make the full document accessible to the public.

In today’s judgment, the court reformed the original decision and ordered the report to be passed on to Delia.