“The issue in contention has been taken to the European Court of Human Rights which has given its final judgement on it. It is up to the government to take note of the judgement and to give execution to it in conformity with its obligations under the European Convention of Human Rights,” Dr Camilleri told The Malta Independent on Sunday.

In its judgement on 29 July, the ECHR upheld the band club’s complaint under Article 6.1 (right to a fair hearing before an independent and impartial tribunal) that its request for retrial in connection with a civil case was not heard by an impartial tribunal because the same three judges who had sat in the Court of Appeal and delivered the judgement of 30 December 1993 were dealing with the retrial request.

As reported two weeks ago, a number of lawyers who spoke to The Malta Independent on Sunday said the law will have to be amended following the judgement handed down against Malta by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on 29 July in the case filed by the San Leonard Band Club.

They highlighted Section 814 of the Code of Organisation and Civil Procedure (COCP), Chapter 12 of the Laws of Malta, which states that “...the demand for a new trial shall be made to the court by which the judgment complained of was given, and the same judges or magistrates may sit”.

On this question, Dr Camilleri said that “the matter is under consideration and I advise government on this issue as may be appropriate. It is then up to the government to decide whether the law remains unchanged or whether there is the need to clarify the situation by an amendment.

“The specific provision in issue is article 814 of the Code of Organisation and Civil Procedure (Cap 12) but other provisions could come into play,” he told The Malta Independent on Sunday.

However, as reported two weeks ago, Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici said that there was no need for a change in the COCP.

He said Section 814 states that the same judges or magistrates “may” sit on the panel hearing the request for a new trial, thus there is already the possibility of having a different panel hearing the request for a re-trial if the court deems it proper.

There isn’t always the need for a different panel, Dr Mifsud Bonnici said. Sometimes it is better if the same panel hears a request for a re-trial because it would already be familiar with the facts of the case.

This view had not been shared by Dr Anglu Farrugia, the Opposition’s spokesperson for Justice.

“There is no doubt that the government should, at the first opportunity, change the law to be in line with the provisions of article 6.1 of the ECHR,” he said.

“It is now not a question whether the sitting judges or magistrates agree or not, they should not take the case if they were the same ones who decided the case which is being examined for re-trial,” Dr Farrugia had told The Malta Independent on Sunday .

[email protected]