A judge on Thursday rejected another attempt to stop court-appointed IT expert Martin Bajada from testifying in the ongoing compilation of evidence against three men accused of the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia.
Alfred Degiorgio, one of the accused, filed a constitutional application two days ago claiming that his right to a fair hearing would be breached if the expert was allowed to testify.
But Mr Justice Toni Abela, presiding over the First Hall, Civil Court in its constitutional jurisdiction, declared that Mr Degiorgio’s rights would not be irremediably prejudiced by Dr Bajada’s testimony. He pointed out that proceedings before the Constitutional Court were still pending and would thus still offer a remedy.
Assistant Attorney General Dr Philip Galea Farrugia had argued that a long line of case law supported the view that Dr Bajada’s testimony should not be suspended.
The controversy stems from a 1993 case where Dr Bajada was convicted of theft and fraud by the UK courts.
However, his position as expert was green lighted by a decision of the superior courts in 2017. The court of appeal had drawn a distinction between situations where the expert was appointed to carry out work that had subjective elements and ones where experts were simply there to confirm objective facts, like call profiles. In the latter case, there was no basis for Dr Bajada to be replaced.
Following the Caruana Galizia assassination, Dr Bajada had been appointed to investigate communications and IT data linked to the crime.
Last January Mr Justice Silvio Meli dismissed a similar application by Mr Degiorgio. He quoted extensively from case law to explain that the circumstances did not pose any danger to Mr Degiorgio’s human rights and Mr Bajada should stay on the case.
Earlier this month a magistrate also decided to allow Mr Bajada to testify in the compilation of evidence, pointing out that the court’s function in compilation proceedings “is strictly to gather evidence and it is in no way to determine guilt or mete out punishment.”
The compilation of evidence against Mr Degiorgio and the two other co-accused, his brother George Degiorgio and Vince Muscat, is due to continue on Friday.
Follow Friday's court proceedings live on timesofmalta.com