A marathon sitting during which former deputy prime minister Chris Fearne and Central Bank Governor Edward Scicluna pleaded not guilty to fraud has been annulled after one of those charged was not properly notified of the charges.

The 11-hour session on Wednesday kick-started court proceedings against the two former ministers, three permanent secretaries and nine officials charged with fraud and other crimes allegedly linking them to the now-annulled hospitals privatisation deal. 

As the hearing entered its tenth hour at the stage when all those charged finally registered their personal details and not guilty plea, lawyers defending DF Advocates - the last 'non-natural person' on the list - pointed out that that name was actually “just a trade name”.

Additionally, the company number attributed to it on the charge sheet belonged to another juridical entity - DF Corporate Advisory Limited - in respect of which charges had been withdrawn earlier this month because that company did not exist at the time of the alleged crimes. 

Faced with the defence’s arguments, prosecuting lawyers from the Attorney General’s office first insisted that DF Advocates was a body corporate duly represented at the sitting by three officials, namely Kenneth Deguara, chief financial officer, and lawyers Kevin Deguara and Jean Carl Farrugia, each of whom had been duly notified. 

The prosecution insisted that charges against the entity would not be withdrawn as funds from criminal activity had allegedly flowed through that entity.

“Whether a trade name or anything else, someone must answer,” argued AG lawyer Francesco Refalo.

The defence then asked who from DF Advocates was to represent the entity in court and whether that person had been duly served notice.

But the prosecution could produce no notice of service of summons in respect of DF Advocates.

The defence pounced on that information, asking the court to “minute that”.

“A juridical person is facing criminal charges and a freezing order but is not present in court. If it were a natural person not present, the proceedings could not continue,” insisted lawyer Charles Mercieca. 

As the legal wrangling continued, the defence urged the prosecution to be “practical” and withdraw charges against DF Advocates as an entity. 

After the umpteenth suspension of the sitting to allow the prosecution time to get its act in order, the session resumed. 

But lawyer Giannella de Marco had an unexpected piece of news. 

Chamber directive: stop at 10pm

The Chamber of Advocates had issued a directive specifically in relation to the ongoing case, whereby it directed the lawyers not to continue assisting their respective clients beyond 10pm. 

The directive was issued in light of the fact that the session had been ongoing since 11am and with no end in sight, the lawyers could not perform their duties to the best of their abilities. 

With seconds to go to the 10pm deadline, presiding Magistrate Leonard Caruana asked the lawyers to bear with the court “for just 30 minutes so as to close the chapter about the notices of summons”. 

Then the court delivered its final decree for the day. 

Having seen the relative documents and after hearing the parties’ submissions, the court held that DF Advocates had not been duly notified.

Its officials were notified in their personal capacity. 

Consequently, the case was deferred to June “with all the legal consequences”, said the magistrate. 

“The legal consequences are what they are,” remarked lawyer Franco Debono. 

“The legal consequences are a nullity,” added de Marco. “Let’s state facts as they are.” 

That meant that Wednesday's sitting was annulled, putting all those charged back to the starting point when the case resumes next month, with the prosecution having to effect the necessary changes to the charge sheet.

“I would expect the prosecution to have told the court that DF Advocates was not notified at 11am. You chose to press charges.

"Now it’s for you to decide what to do. Had you told the court first thing this morning, all would have been home with their families by now," Magistrate Caruana said, addressing the prosecution as the eventful session ended.