PN MP Darren Carabott has stated that if the Nationalist Party is elected back to power, it will reverse the proposed reform currently being proposed by Bill 125, which will be reforming magisterial inquiries.

As parliamentary debates on the magisterial inquiry reform continued during Wednesday’s plenary session, the Opposition’s reforms spokesperson said that his party intends to reverse the magisterial inquiry reform to retrieve citizens their right to open a magisterial inquiry through an independent magistrate.

Carabott said that the Nationalist Party will reverse this reform whether it wins a general election in the next two years or later down the line.

“A Nationalist government, when elected, will reverse this law,” Carabott said.

The PAC Chairperson described that the PN will work to retrieve citizens of their right to open magisterial inquiries through an independent magistrate under their own accord.

“This is not a question of red or blue, but of granting citizen rights,” he added.

During his intervention, Carabott told the Chamber that through this fast-tracked reform, we now know that when it desires, the government indeed can rush certain subjects through the legislative process.

In this light, he condemned the incumbent administration for not similarly prioritising other significant issues, e.g., such as to address the deficiencies of the judicial system by allocating needed resources.

Using this example with Justice Minister Jonathan Attard present, Carabott remarked that the judicial system’s pitfalls are frequently complained about by members of the judiciary, though that the people suffering through its shortages are victims of injustices.

The PN MP defended the present make-up by which magisterial inquiries can be requested – as did his contemporaries Joe Giglio, Graziella Attard Previ, and Paula Mifsud Bonnici. Carabott described that presently, magistrates have the right to reject citizens’ requests prima facie to open investigations via a magisterial inquiry, and that this right has been practised in the past.

He also observed that it makes little sense for citizens to be expected to compile their own evidence should they wish to open a magisterial inquiry as Bill 125 is proposing. Currently, magistrates have the role to preserve evidence in conjunction with their role to investigate cases.

“What sense does it make to hold private citizens accountable for preserving evidence when the intricacies of the law can be even too complex for a practicing lawyer like me to break down in layman’s terms?” Carabott asked.

Concluding his remarks, the PN MP requested “a non-partisan response” from the government’s side of the Parliament Chamber as to why Bill 125 is going to be introduced with retrospective applicability on magisterial inquiries that have already been ongoing for several years.

He also stated that the government is prioritising this Bill because the governing Labour Party is worried that more scandals will come to the surface if this system remains as is.

During this debate, PL backbencher Michael Farrugia and Parliamentary Secretary Rebecca Buttigieg spoke on behalf of the government during this evening’s plenary session. Both advocated in favour of Bill 125, as well as against abuses of disinformation campaigns.