The government should consult on the removal or reduction of the right to request a magisterial inquiry, Repubblika said in a statement on Monday.

The NGO stated that it condemns the “campaign of misinformation and disinformation” being conducted by Prime Minister Robert Abela, which it said he is doing in order to convince everyone that the removal or reduction of the right to request a magisterial inquiry is in the public interest.

Repubblika commented that if Abela wants to make a holistic reform by changing the appointing process of court experts and changing how victims are given information, then there needs to be adequate public consultation so that the clients of the judicial system have the opportunity to tell the government what it is doing right and wrong.

“Instead, it seems that the government that wants to protect the corrupt is removing the right of citizens to ask for an inquiry,” the NGO remarked.

It continued that the Prime Minister has said that he wants to stop the people who are abusing the system and dragging innocent people through judicial processes for nothing. “This is a blatant lie,” the NGO commented. It continued that the abusers Abela speaks of are actually citizens who have asked for inquiries to be made “when the police did nothing”.

The NGO commented that citizens only have the right to an inquiry, and do not have the right to start it themselves. It said that the decision is ultimately taken by the magistrates, and even in the case such a decision is made, the indicated person has the right to appeal before a judge.

Having said that, Repubblika continued that the magistrate who writes the inquiry does not have the right to start judicial processes. It said that such a decision is to be made by the Attorney General, and continued that if there are truly any judicial processes done for nothing, then the abuse would be coming from the Attorney General rather than the citizens.

Repubblika questioned what injustices have been committed through the use of magisterial inquiries, as it stated that the Prime Minister has said this has been the case. It questioned what the Prime Minister was referring to.

The NGO remarked that expecting those requesting an inquiry to bring more evidence to justify an inquiry being opened is an “absurdity intended to kill the purpose of the citizens’ right to request an inquiry”. It continued that the job of collecting evidence of a crime does not belong to the citizens, but rather to the institutions.

Repubblika said that Abela has complained about the €11 million which were spent on the Vitals inquiry, and the NGO in turn spoke of the €400 million which was spent on the hospitals deal.

The NGO referred to comments the Prime Minister made in which he described persons accused of illegalities in the Vitals case as examples of innocent victims of the abuse of the inquiry system. Repubblika said that those persons, Alfred Camilleri and Joseph Rapa, were accused in court by the Attorney General and not by any investigating magistrate. It continued that when the Prime Minister attacks their prosecution, he is in turn attacking the decision of the Attorney General and using the situation as an excuse to remove the right of citizens to request an inquiry.

It continued that when Abela speaks in such a way about accused persons before the Court, then he is “prejudicing the state’s case and putting pressure on the judiciary to decide as it suits him”. It remarked that this is “an outrage on the independence of the judiciary and the Attorney General, which is not acceptable in a democracy.”

Repubblika concluded by stating that this is a complex and important matter for Malta’s fight against corruption. “Malta’s resources to fight corruption are already weak as they are,” it commented. “We therefore reiterate our appeal for a white paper and an effective consultation on the reforms that the government wants to make.”