Journalists’ institute leaves door ajar for ‘criteria’ on deletion of online court decisions

Journalists should have access to public documents when investigating court cases “in order not to waste time”, the Institute of Maltese Journalists (IGM) chairperson told MaltaToday.

The comment was a response to justice minister Owen Bonnici’s admission that discretionary power was granted to the courts’ director-general to remove a court decision from the public database on the conditional discharge of Yanica Barbara, a lawyer, on a theft charge dating from 2009.

“Without going into the merit of the case. IGM feels journalists should have access to public documents when investigating a case,” PBS journalist and IGM chairperson Norma Saliba said.

“This would save them a lot of work, because even though a court sentence is removed from the Law Court’s database, one would still be able to find it through other – albeit lengthier – means.”

The issue cropped up after Chief Justice Silvio Camilleri and the president of the Chamber of Advocates George Hyzler formally objected to the decision to issue two law graduates who were granted a conditional discharge on theft a warrant to practice law.

Since then, it turned out that the justice minister had granted the courts’ director ‘discretion’ to remove a court record from the online public database concerning Yanica Barbara – an admission that is cause for worry for a lot more than just “wasting time”.

Bonnici also admitted there were no criteria with regard to such requests “to be forgotten”, clarifying that he had confidence in courts directive Frank Mercieca’s discretion, and that it is up to him if a court decision should be deleted or not.

Going by the comments of Saliba, the IGM appears to be leaving the door open for the procedure. “If the Director General of the Law Courts has been given the right to remove records of cases that he deems of little importance after a certain time elapses, there should be clearly set procedures in place, instead of leaving it up to the discretion of an individual,” Saliba said.

“The procedure should be open to everyone but should only be applicable in similar cases and as long as all regulations are followed.”