The nation is once again focused on the Law Courts. It has been some time since the Law Courts last occupied the centre of national attention. Over the years, the Courts have seen thousands of cases pass their way and be judged by them. There have been many, perhaps hundreds, of libel cases, and even cases of criminal libel – that is, cases in which the claimant claims his due according to the Criminal Code – a controversial but legal way which can land the defendant, if found guilty, in jail. These libel cases are normally reported by the newspapers, as a matter of course, when they end in a judgement being handed down. In only one case, if memory serves right, was a libel case reported at the beginning of the process.

But the case which sees Dr Jason Azzopardi on the bench of the accused has already become – despite the government’s urgent spin that this is a perfectly normal case – a cause celebre. Rarely have sitting MPs been called as accused in cases of criminal libel or, to be more precise, criminal defamation. Rarely have they been so accused by the person who at that time of the alleged transgression was Commissioner of Police. Rarely has there been such an upsurge in reaction that even the Leader of the Opposition has signaled he will be there in solidarity with Dr Azzopardi. And rarely have so many people already signaled their intent to be present.

This government goes all virginally prurient when it is accused of using the Police Force or the Law Courts to unnerve the Opposition, or the media, or whoever gets in its way, but then this is what the ordinary man in the street perceives the matters to be.