Updated 4pm

A magistrate on Monday turned down a request to recuse himself from hearing the case against Chris Fearne, Edward Scicluna and 12 others and ordered that the case proceed immediately. 

Magistrate Leonard Caruana rebuffed the request, filed collectively by lawyers representing the defendants, saying it had no basis in law. 

The decision came midway through a court session characterised by rumblings of discontent from the defence benches - and revelations that the evidence to be presented against defendants totals a staggering 250,000 pages.

Defence lawyers made it a point to note that they have not yet received copies of that evidence, even though they have been given less than two weeks to present their objections to the prima facie evidence presented against their clients.   

It was that court-mandated timeline which prompted defence lawyers to make the recusal request. 

The magistrate decreed that the defendants' 30-day time limit to contest prima facie evidence began when they were first arraigned on May 29.

Defence lawyers said that decision caught them by surprise and meant they only had 11 days to comb through voluminous evidence against their clients. So far, defendants have only received a copy of conclusions of the magisterial inquiry into the Vitals case. Work to provide them with copies of appendices attached to that inquiry remains ongoing. 

Lawyers argued that the 30-day limit should begin on Monday, as the magistrate had originally annulled that May 29 court hearing. 

The magistrate cancelled that arraignment after lawyers for one of the defendants, legal firm DF Advocates, argued that no individual had been notified of charges as its representative.

But the magistrate subsequently changed course and on Friday upheld a request by prosecutors to revoke that initial decree.

That decision prompted a storm of criticism from defence lawyers, who also took issue with the magistrate limiting submissions to one lawyer per defendant to "avoid repetition". 

Each accused had a right to make submissions, they argued. 

Recusal request denied

As complaints mounted, the defence collectively demanded that the magistrate recuse himself, arguing that their clients’ right to a fair trial was being denied.

Prosecutors immediately objected to the recusal request, saying the request had no legal basis and that the outcome of a decree was no reason to demand a recusal. 

Following a 90-minute deliberation, the magistrate turned down the recusal request, saying it was not well-founded. His decree was met with total silence by the defence. 

250,000 pages to be scanned

The court heard that work was underway to make evidence presented in 78 boxes of documentation available to defendants.

As of Monday morning, documents in all but three of the 78 boxes had been scanned, court registrar Franklin Calleja testified.

In all, there are 250,000 pages to be scanned.

Police superintendent Rennie Stivala testified that he was present for various searches and testimonies given as part of the Vitals magisterial inquiry led by magistrate Gabriella Vella.

Stivala served that function until April 2021. Up to that date, none of those questioned were being treated as suspects in the case, he said.

All throughout, Stivala emphasised that the process was led by the magistrate and that he was simply tasked with assisting the process.

Tax commissioner Joseph Caruana also testified in Monday’s session. He told the court that he granted authorisation for criminal action against one of the accused, Deborah Ann Chappell, and did so on the same day that the request from the police commissioner reached him, May 2.

The case will resume on Friday, June 21, when the court will hear submissions regarding freezing orders against the accused and also decide on a request filed by the prosecution to forbid defendants from speaking publicly about the case.

What is the case about?

Fearne, a Labour MP and former deputy prime minister and Scicluna, who is Central Bank Governor and a former finance minister, stand accused of fraud and other crimes related to that hospitals privatisation deal.

That deal, signed during Fearne and Scicluna's time in office as part of a Joseph Muscat-led government, was annulled by a civil court last year after it found evidence of fraud within it. 

Their initial arraignment, held late last month, turned into an 11-hour court sitting punctuated with multiple procedural objections by defence lawyers. At the end of it all, Magistrate Leonard Caruana annulled the entire thing.

The case was due to resume last week but was deferred after prosecutors filed a legal request to revoke that decision to annul the initial sitting.

Apart from Fearne and Scicluna, other defendants include former permanent secretaries Alfred Camilleri and Joseph Rapa, current permanent secretary Ronald Mizzi, members of the adjudication committee that assigned the contract to Vitals - James Camenzuli, Manuel Castagna, and Robert Borg -  financial controller Kenneth Deguara, and five lawyers: Deborah Anne Chappell, Kevin Deguara, Jean Carl Farrugia, Bradley Gatt and Aron Mifsud Bonnici. 

Another group of defendants that includes former prime minister Joseph Muscat, Keith Schembri and Konrad Mizzi are being charged separately. They face more serious allegations of bribery and corruption, among other crimes. 

A third case sees consultant Assad Ali facing criminal charges. Ali is the son of Shaukat Ali, the man suspected of being the secret shareholder who made the most money out of the hospitals deal.

Correction June 18, 2024: A previous version misstated the number of pages to be scanned as 51,000.