Two men today were each handed a €700 compensation after court proceedings took over 23 years to be finalised.
Raymond Bonnici, 55, from Marsa and Ronald Urry, 50 from Paola, were arraigned on December 14, 1990 charged with theft of a cheque and handling stolen property. The cheque, valued at €217.50 (LM 93.35) belonged to a certain Antonia Dalli.
The case dragged on for 23 years, by which time, the magistrate presiding over the case retired, and magistrate Natasha Galea Sciberras was appointed to take over.
During a sitting in November 2013, Magistrate Galea Sciberras declared that the charges were time barred and acquitting the accused, after she noted that some of the sittings were five years apart and that the accused were not even being told to attend.
The two men filed a constitutional application claiming a breach of human rights because they were denied a trial within a reasonable time. In the application, the lawyers argued that procedures were prolonged unnecessarily and unreasonably with the consequence that the accused were denied the right for a fair hearing within reasonable time. For all these years, the accused were “"in a state of uncertainty about their fate”."
The constitution court welcomed their request, however in its judgement, it had strong criticism for all parties involved.
Chief Justice Silvio Camilleri and Judges Gianino Caruana Demajo and Noel Cushieri condemned the two men for halting court proceedings when they failed to show up for various sittings, while it also condemned the prosecutor for failing to ensure that the accused show up in court when called for.
It noted that the case was only closed once a new magistrate was appointed.
To determine the compensated amount, the court took into consideration the excessive waiting time, the nature of the crime in question and the uncertainty and frustration the two men faced.
Lawyers Franco Debono and Marion Camilleri filed the application on behalf of the two men. Inspector Jesmond Micallef led the prosecution.
In separate proceedings, Mr Urry is pleading not guilty to murdering taxi driver Matthew Zahra in August 2013.