The Police Commissioner and the Attorney General (AG) filed a reply to an application in the Constitutional Court yesterday by means of which they called on the court to confirm a decision handed down by the First Hall of the Civil Court.

John Mary Chircop, 41, who has Maltese and Australian dual nationality, is wanted in the state of Victoria in Australia to face charges of the indecent assault and rape of his teenage step-daughter between 1 November 2003 and 8 September 2004.

Mr Chircop had filed an appeal against a judgement handed down by the First Hall of the Civil Court in its constitutional jurisdiction, which had ruled that there were other adequate remedies of which Mr Chircop had not availed himself and hence, by virtue of article 46(2) of the Constitution, it refused to exercise its constitutional competence.

Magistrate Joseph Apap Bologna had already ruled that Mr Chircop should be extradited to Australia to face justice.

But following this decision, Mr Chircop filed a constitutional case claiming that his right to a fair hearing had been breached by the magistrate who presided over his extradition proceedings.

He also claimed that he was not in a position to communicate with his defence lawyers in order to prepare his defence.

Moreover, Mr Chircop claimed that when he had said, at the beginning of the extradition proceedings, that he was not fit to stand trial, the presiding magistrate had still continued to listen to evidence that the prosecution was bringing against him. After listening to this evidence, the magistrates appointed a team of experts to examine Mr Chircop and determine whether he was fit to stand trial.

The First Hall of the Civil Court, in its constitutional jurisdiction, had rejected the case and ruled that there were other remedies of which he should have availed himself before filing the case in question.

Last week, Mr Chircop’s lawyers filed an application appealing against the decision of the First Hall of the Civil Court in its constitutional jurisdiction.

In his application, Mr Chircop mentioned two incidents which, he said, do not usually happen in the Maltese courts.

He said a letter was sent by the Chief Justice to the judge presiding over his case and another letter concerning his case was sent by the Commission for the Administra-tion of Justice to the same judge. These letters, he said, could have placed unnecessary pressure on the presiding judge when handing down his judgement.

However, in the reply filed yesterday, the Police Commissioner and the AG claimed Mr Chircop should have been grateful that the Chief Justice and the Commission for the Administration of Justice went to the trouble of sending the letters. Moreover, they said, his claims regarding a breach of his right to a fair hearing should have been addressed in the First Hall of the Civil Court.

Dr Cynthia Scerri Debono and Dr Donatella Frendo Dimech signed the writ.