Two years ago, former Chief Justice Noel Arrigo and former judge Patrick Vella were charged with receiving money from Camilleri to reduce his prison sentence after a jury had found him guilty of drug trafficking.

The defence claimed that on 29 October 2003, the Constitutional Court had claimed that the former judges’ right to a fair trial had been breached and therefore sent the case to be heard in the European Human Rights Court in Strasbourg.

In the submissions filed yesterday, the defence attorneys requested the Magistrates’ Court to stop the proceedings of the case since the formal application to the European Human Rights court is due to be tabled within the next few days.

At yesterday’s sitting, Attorney General Silvio Camilleri disagreed with the defence and said the Constitutional Court did not issue any directives claiming the accuseds’ right to a fair trial had been breached. He said presiding magistrate Tonio Micallef Trigona is obliged to finish hearing all the evidence presented in court.

After listening to the defence and the prosecution put forward their case, the presiding magistrate ruled that before deciding whether to uphold the defence’s request, the court must examine the judgement passed by the Constitutional Court referred to in yesterday’s sitting.

Attorney General Silvio Camilleri and superintendent Pierre Calleja prosecuted while Dr Joseph Giglio, Dr Toni Abela and Dr George Abela stood for defence.