Comments made by Justice Minister Jonathan Attard criticizing the gagging order requested by Attorney General lawyers and granted by the court in the hospitals corruption case do not interfere with the AG's autonomy, Prime Minister Robert Abela said.
On Wednesday, Attard criticized the request made by the prosecution for a gagging order in the hospitals corruption case, saying that it is disproportionate.
Speaking on the Labour Party radio station, Attard said he had a duty to express his opinion on the court order while respecting the rights of both the prosecution and the defense.
The gagging order was issued by the AG, banning those accused in the Vitals fraud case from speaking publicly about the case.
Abela said that the way Attard criticized the order was done within prudent parameters, in such a way that it does not affect the AG's ability to do her job in the case or affect in any way the powers of autonomy she enjoys.
He also said that, contrary to what Repubblika did, Attard did not attack the Police Commissioner Angelo Gafa or the AG on a personal level.
This comes after, also on Wednesday, Repubblika honorary president Robert Aquilina said on Facebook that "occult manoeuvres" are being conducted behind the scenes by Buttigieg and Gafa.
"If you mess up the judicial process, we will hold you personally responsible," Aquilina had said, adding that it's obvious why they did not want Repubblika to be part of the proceedings.
Abela also noted that the AG is one of the people who gets attacked on a personal level the most.
BirdLife Malta on Thursday welcomed the unequivocal opinion by European Court of Justice (ECJ) Advocate General Tamara Ćapeta delivered today in Luxembourg in "Case C-23/23 European Commission v Republic of Malta," which recommended that the Court should find that Malta's derogation allowing the live capture of finches breaches the Birds Directive of the European Union.
The Advocate General suggested that the Court should declare that by adopting a derogation scheme allowing the live capturing of seven species of wild finches, Malta has failed to observe its obligations under EU law and order the Republic of Malta to bear its own costs and to pay those incurred by the European Commission, BirdLife said in a statement.
Responding to questions about this, the PM said that the Advocate General's suggestion does not override court procedures and judgments. He said that the government will continue to use every legal tool at hand to protect the hobby of hunting, which he also said is a traditional hobby.