Prime Minister Joseph Muscat "has to take action against Ministers Chris Cardona, Konrad Mizzi and Edward Scicluna," Opposition Leader Adrian Delia said tonight, adding that a "Constitutional Court declared that they are suspected of breaking the law".
Earlier today, the Constitutional Court had upheld the application filed by Ministers Edward Scicluna, Chris Cardona and Konrad Mizzi in which they requested the overturning of a decree ordering them to be summoned to testify over their citing of details pertaining to the as yet unpublished Egrant inquiry which were not part of the extract published last year, in a case pertaining to the deal pertaining to the Vitals Global Healthcare deal.
In a brief judgment handed down from chambers this afternoon, the Constitutional Court, presided by Chief Justice Joseph Azzopardi, Mr Justice Giannino Caruana Demajo and Mr. Justice Noel Cuschieri observed that the request to avoid testifying was intended to safeguard the confidentiality of the acts of the inquiry and to protect their interests as potential defendants, being "suspected persons" in the inquiry.
On the subject of the inquiry's confidentiality, the judges said that the same court had already provided for and upheld the request to present witnesses and documents relating to the inquiry. The ministers had no legitimate right to contest that decision as they are not parties to the case.
But the same could not be said for the second reason, said the court. "The applicants cannot be forced to answer questions when the answers could land them under criminal proceedings. Once the applicants are "suspected persons" they have the right not to answer to things tied to that case."
The court said its task was to, insofar as possible, reconcile the conflicting legitimate interests of the plaintiff and that of the applicants. The interest of the plaintiff was to show that the ministers had in fact quoted from the Egrant inquiry in order to base his arguments on this fact, said the court. But to do so, neither did they require the ministers to testify, nor present their full replies - only the parts cited from the inquiry. That extract, alone and out of context of the replies of the applicants in the acts of the inquiry about the VGH hospital deal, cannot be used to prejudice their case, ruled the judges.
The court revoked its August 2019 decree which had ordered the ministers to testify and instead ordered them to present only that part of their reply from June 2019 in the acts of the Vitals inquiry where the extracts from the Egrant inquiry are cited.
PN reacts
The PN, in reaction to this judgement, said that the court declared, in its judgement, that the ministers were suspected of having breached the criminal code, and that is why they cannot be made to testify.
Opposition Leader Adrian Delia told the Prime Minister to take steps against the three ministers "who were declated by the highest court in the country as being suspected criminals."
"Muscat must show now, through facts, that he respects the Constitutional Court and take steps against his ministers and that he uphold political responsibility for them."
PL responds
The Labour Party, in response, said that “Delia went to Court to make allegations against the three ministers and, because they are responding to these allegations as they have a right to, Delia invented that the Court declared something against them.”
The PL said that it was Delia who, “through desperate legal steps being taken is trying to throw legal suspicion on whoever comes before him.”
“Everytime he is heading into a wall and loses the legal battles he goes in for. After every loss he invents a new one.”