Environmental crime cases in court have been stalled for two months: BirdLife

BirdLife Malta has written to the Chief Justice Mark Chetcuti to assign a magistrate to deal with environmental crimes after the responsibility was removed from Elaine Mercieca Rizzo.

The NGO said environmental crime proceedings have been postponed indefinitely, for more than two months.

“The vacancy, and lack of replacement, has impacted the efficiency of how these crimes are tackled in court,” the NGO said.

In the first letter signed off by CEO Mark Sultana, BirdLife said pending cases continue to accumulate, and the lack of judicial oversight is worsening the environmental crime situation.

The NGO made reference to a recent case involving a Flamingo, which is currently being housed in a cage until the courts decide on the case.

“The more time passes and the longer the legal process takes, the chances of the bird remaining alive decrease significantly. It is disappointing that a creature like this remains vulnerable with the possibility of dying due to delays in the court system that could have been avoided,” the NGO said.

Replying to Sultana’s letter, the Chief Justice said he cannot assign anyone on environmental crimes until new magistrates are sworn in.

The NGO replied back by saying certain crimes risk being time-barred.

“It would be a shame that no justice is done on these crimes because of logistical and administrative short-comings,” it said.