The Justice Minister and the Attorney General cannot continue to abdicate from their responsibility, the Nationalist Party has said.

The PN said that the news that a lawyer (George Camilleri) "who up to a few months ago worked as a prosecutor within the Attorney General's Office is now appearing for the Degiorgio brothers - who had been found guilty for the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia - confirms that Justice Minister Jonathan Attard continued doing nothing and ignored the conclusions of the public inquiry that he had requested three years ago," the PN said.

In June 2020, the inquiry led by Chief Justice emeritus Joseph Azzopardi looking into former attorney at the AG's office Charles Mercieca's move to Yogern Fenech's defence team had concluded. The situation had resulted in a number of safeguards being proposed, as the board believed that the existing ones were not sufficient. The PN said that the board had recommended that those lawyers who choose to leave the Attorney General's office should not be allowed to represent people or companies that the Attorney General would have started cases against.

The PN said that three years have passed since this inquiry, and Minister Attard has done nothing on this recommendation. "Through Minister Attard's failure, lawyers who leave the Attorney General's office are allowed to appear for people against whom criminal proceedings would have been launched by the Attorney General, as happened in the case of the lawyer George Camilleri and the Degiorgio brothers."

The PN asked: "What steps has minister Attard taken after three years since receiving the inquiry report? What action has AG Victoria Buttigieg taken to ensure that cases like this don't repeat? What changes to the code of ethics for lawyers and legal procurators within the Attorney General's office were made after the inquiry? Who will carry political responsibility for this latest case?"

"The Justice Minister and the Attorney General cannot continue to abdicate from their responsibility and must answer these questions. The message they are sending is that with or without them its the same, and that people who have money can freely buy the services of a lawyer who until recently was working against them in court."

The PN Statement was signed by the party's Spokesperson for Justice Karol Aquilina