Justice Minister orders inquiry after prosecutor jumped ship to join Yorgen Fenech’s defence team

The Justice Minister has appointed an independent inquiry to probe the revolving doors case of a former prosecutor who joined the defence team of Yorgen Fenech.

Edward Zammit Lewis appointed former chief justice Joseph Azzopardi to conduct the inquiry.

“This inquiry is being appointed after it was reported that a lawyer, who was employed within the Office of the Attorney General and who, a day after his resignation, joined the defence team of an individual accused with the alleged involvement in the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, and who is involved in other judicial proceedings,” Zammit Lewis said in a statement on Tuesday afternoon.

The lawyer at the centre of the probe is Charles Mercieca, who less than 24 hours after resigning his post at the AG last week, appeared in court as part of businessman Yorgen Fenech’s defence team in a constitutional case filed against the public health superintendent.

Zammit Lewis had described the move as “insensitive”, amid serious concerns raised by the Caruana Galizia family that Mercieca may have been privy to information about the murder case.

The case was raised in parliament yesterday by Nationalist MP David Thake, who questioned Mercieca's move and criticised the Justice Minister's "weak" criticism.

MaltaToday is informed that the government recevied two letters of concern over the case from the OSCE and the committee on legal affairs and human rights of the Council of Europe.

Mercieca, the son of former Labour MP Franco Mercieca, graduated as a lawyer in 2017. The Attorney General's office told MaltaToday he was employed as a trainee lawyer in July 2018 and promoted to lawyer in line with normal procedure in January 2020.

The AG said Mercieca never worked on the Fenech prosecution.

The Criminal Code provides that advocates who would have acted on behalf of one party, and then change over in the same lawsuit, can only do so with the consent of the first party, under pain of penalties.

Zammit Lewis said the inquiry has a month to conclude its work and present its findings to him by not later than 16 June.

The terms of reference were not published but MaltaToday understands that these include verifications whether Mercieca had access to the files concerned, whether he discussed the case with colleagues at the attorney general and whether he was privy to some sensitive information about the Fenech case.

Opposition asks for terms of reference

Nationalist Party justice spokesperson Jason Azzopardi said the Opposition took note of the inquiry but asked the minister to publish the terms of reference.

"The Opposition reserves the right to give a more comprehensive assessment and asks the minister to publish the terms of reference," Azzopardi said.