Whatever may be the cause that starts an inquiry, if the magistrate comes across evidence of another crime they are expected not to look away. As, in any case, everyone is, always. If the crime they come across is too far removed from the subject of the inquiry and could prove a distraction, the magistrate [...]
Magistrate Joe Mifsud could have made a greater effort to assess the allegations he was asked to conduct an inquiry on. Some other posts on this subject will show how. The interests of justice are best served if everyone does their job to the best of their ability and in the case of judges as [...]
Magistrate Joe Mifsud’s report criticises Repubblika for not having verified directly itself the contents of the report it was making: “It turns out therefore that before filing their report with the Police Commissioner Repubblika had not asked the Army, the Prime Minister or the Army Commander for clarifications. Nor did they verify the claims made [...]
Times of Malta reported yesterday that Magistrate Joe Mifsud got the job of conducting this inquiry because the police held on to Repubblika’s report until he came on duty. That does not necessarily mean they meant it that way. It does not necessarily mean they knew or hoped Joe Mifsud would be a magistrate that [...]
I will not bore you with the details because if you’re inclined to be interested you’re not reading these blog posts but the magistrate’s report directly. Lawyers for Repubblika referred in their complaint to a court decision that included a definition of ‘duty of care’ that they felt helped them explain to the police what [...]
In the four weeks he gave himself to conduct an inquiry into whether anyone was responsible for the deaths of 12 people at sea, the illegal pushback to Libya of 57 and the illegal push-out from Maltese territorial waters of migrants at sea, Magistrate Joe Mifsud found time for other side investigations. One of them [...]
When someone dies at home alone and the police are called to break in and check the stench, a magisterial inquiry starts just in case there’s been foul play. Human life is sacred, they say. But it is also necessarily finite. So, whenever it ends under circumstances that cannot be immediately and fully explained, we [...]
This will be a series of posts written in the aftermath of the publication on Saturday of the inquiry conducted by Magistrate Joe Mifsud that found no crime was committed when 12 people were left to die at sea and another 57 were pushed back to Libya during the Easter week. It was also the [...]
I closed my last article with the conclusions of Magistrate Aaron Bugeja on the testimony of the representatives of ATC Administrators Inc, which the magistrate concluded as being ‘indefinite’. In fact, the magistrate based his conclusion on document he said was dated 8 August 2013. Actually it was dated 9 August. This document was an [...]
Filed by someone known to me. The Cummings and goings between London and Durham that have featured so prominently in the media, shed light on one specific issue that is particularly relevant from a Maltese perspective. We have come to be accustomed to the fact that our political leaders appoint persons of trust, but in [...]
I commented a few weeks ago about the sight of the director of our prisons designing a dress uniform himself complete with a sword. Alex Dalli harbours some really serious delusions. There’s a classic French comedy from 1993 called Les Visiteurs about a 12th century crusader and his squire who find themselves in the 1990s [...]
Robert Abela’s inexperience, insecurity and slavish populism came through most clearly yesterday. The inexperience is seen in the fact that he still thinks he governs for those who complain to him. The stories he told yesterday about someone fined because they were too close to the vegetable van or because they huddled too close together [...]
A report on The Guardian today says that “police in Sicily are investigating and the prosecutor’s office may open an investigation against Malta in the next few days. Maltese officers risk being charged with aiding illegal immigration.” The investigation follows the publication of evidence that Maltese soldiers dragged out migrants from inside Maltese territorial waters [...]
The police department is apparently setting up a court martial (for the pedants, that's a literary exaggeration) for the constable who danced (perhaps another literary exaggeration) to something my daughter informs me is a tune called Conkarah. The classic missing wood for trees. The issue is not that this police constable made a silly TikTok. [...]
No Robert. You can forget it. Forget summer and your tan. Forget a holiday on some sandy beach with slow waves lapping the white sand in some exotic bay surrounded with tall palm trees. Your ‘extraordinary good success’ in eliminating the dreaded COVID-19 is done, though that should be attributed to the health professionals not [...]
This website is informed that the magistrate inquiring into the deaths of 12 people at sea during the Easter weekend sent two notes referring to his report to all his colleagues in the judiciary yesterday with the comments ‘You have much to read.' and 'I sent you a copy.' The two notes, it seems, were [...]
The Labour Party had made a mantra of meritocracy provoking a reaction in those who felt they were entitled to greater recognition. What they really meant was mediocrity. Consider yesterday’s announcement that an MBA graduate without a day of experience in the foreign service is now our chief diplomat. His academic training is in nursing, [...]
The Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs Luigi di Maio confirmed to the Italian Parliament reports appearing days ago on Avvenire and The Guardian that included photos and videos showing the Maltese army pushing migrants out of Maltese territorial waters within sight of Malta’s coastline. In his statement to the Italian Parliament, Luigi di Maio said [...]
Italian Foreign Minister Luigi di Maio informed the Italian Parliament that "Malta has come round and now accepts it needs to cooperate in a shared effort to help stabilise Libya." After several postponements Malta has now withdrawn its reservations on the appointment of a commander for the EUNAVFORMED IRINI naval mission, the Italian government has [...]
A fourth boat has been despatched to imprison migrants out at sea. European countries have stuck to the argument that if Malta expects solidarity it should first comply with its legal obligations. The migrants out on 3 Captain Morgan boats and the rather grandly and equally unhelpfully named Supreme Cruises boat are on Maltese territory. [...]