Court finds violation of right to trial within reasonable time

A police sergeant was yesterday awarded Lm600 compensation after the First Hall of the Civil Court, presided over by Mr Justice Giannino Caruana Demajo, concluded that his fundamental human right to a fair trial within a reasonable time had been violated.

Joseph John Grech filed his constitutional application against the Attorney General.

He claimed he had been arraigned before the Magistrates' Court and had then undergone a trial by jury before the Criminal Court on four charges of attempted homicide.

The arraignment took place on April 4, 1988, and his trial by jury commenced on January 10, 2000. Grech was acquitted of all charges by the jurors.

During those 12 years, Grech had been suspended from the police force, and was finally readmitted to the force at the grade of sergeant, the same grade he had when he was arraigned.

He claimed that his fundamental human right to a fair trial within a reasonable time had been violated by the fact that the criminal proceedings against him had taken over 12 years to be concluded, and that he had undergone psychological trauma as a result of this delay.

Grech requested the court to provide him with a remedy.

In its judgment, the court noted that following Grech's arraignment in April 1988, many witnesses had been heard by the Magistrates' Court until October 1991 in numerous sittings held at short intervals.

The records of the case were then sent to the Attorney General's office and a bill of indictment against the accused was issued on January 2, 1992.

Grech had moved a number of preliminary pleas before the Criminal Court on December 2, 1993, and the Criminal Court had put the case off for judgment on those pleas for September 11, 1995.

The judgment was not however delivered on that date. It was eventually delivered, after being put off 10 times, on March 20, 1997. No other progress was made in that period of over 18 months.

Following the judgment on the preliminary pleas, Grech filed an appeal to the Court of Appeal, and judgment was delivered on March 9, 1998.

No further progress was registered following that judgment and on April 7, 1999, Grech filed an application for his trial by jury to start without any further delay.

The trial was appointed for hearing for January 10, 2000.

Grech's complaint was based on the fact that the Criminal Court had decided upon his preliminary pleas in March, 1997, even though judgment was supposed to have been delivered in September, 1995.

He also complained of the fact that his appeal to the Court of Criminal Appeal was decided on March 9, 1998 and that it took almost two more years for his trial to commence, in January, 2000.

Thus, the proceedings against him had taken over 12 years to be concluded.

Mr Justice Caruana Demajo pointed out that the fact that criminal proceedings took over 12 years to be concluded was a prima facie indication that they had not been concluded in a reasonable time.

It was up to the state to show that this length of time was required for the proceedings to be concluded properly and for justice to be done.

The Court noted that the Criminal Court had not calculated correctly the length of time it would require to deliver judgment on Grech's preliminary pleas.

This fact definitely added to the tension felt by Grech, as he had gone to court 10 times to find out how the judgment had been delivered and on each occasion he had been told to return later. This meant that Grech's right to efficient procedures had been violated.

Mr Justice Caruana Demajo also concluded that the length of time for the appointment of the trial by jury after the conclusion of the appeal proceedings had also been excessive, particularly when one realised that the bill of indictment had been issued against Grech eight years previously.

The Criminal Court had to do its best with the resources at its disposal, however the state was duty bound to provide the courts with the facilities to be able to decide cases within a reasonable time.

The Court found that Grech had been reinstated in his place of work and that the salary that had been withheld previously had all been paid to him.

However, Grech had been denied the opportunity to advance in his career, and was also entitled to moral damages.

Mr Justice Caruana Demajo concluded by finding that Grech's fundamental human rights had been violated and by awarding Grech Lm600 in damages.