A court has turned down a request by Jason Azzopardi for a magisterial inquiry into Lands Authority CEO Robert Vella.
In a decree issued on Wednesday, Magistrate Philip Galea Farrugia said the applicant had not presented enough evidence to justify such a probe.
Azzopardi had filed the request in December, as part of a flurry of requests for the courts to appoint investigations into various allegations of government corruption.
The lawyer and former PN MP had argued that there were signs Vella “deliberately” disregarded the public interest on various occasions when the Lands Authority approved the transfer of public land to private investors."
He cited 10 media reports concerning Vella and various Lands Authority deals in his request for an investigation.
In its decree, the court said that was not sufficient.
“The fact that contracts, concessions or deals involving the Lands Authority raise questions or suspicions does not mean that criminal acts were committed,” the court said.
While citizens requesting magisterial inquiries were not expected to conduct investigations themselves, they had to clearly define and explain the crimes they allege occurred, it added.
Azzopardi had failed to do so in his application, the court said.
“In this case, there is a complete absence of a link between the facts presented by the applicant and the crimes alleged,” it said as it dismissed Azzopardi’s application.
Azzopardi: This proves the law works
In a reaction on social media, Azzopardi said the court’s decision was evidence of the validity of the existing system of magisterial inquiries.
“I never had any guarantee that every request I filed was going to be accepted, because the level of proof a citizen must present [for an inquiry to begin] is extremely high, and a citizen does not always have the tools required to gather evidence that the police has purposely ignored,” he said.
“This decision proves just how difficult it is for a citizen to satisfy the legal requirements [for an inquiry to begin]. It confirms that there are functional checks and balances in the law the government wants to change. It sends a clear sign that there is no need to change the law, because it is already strong enough.”
Azzopardi’s flurry of inquiry requests includes three centred on Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri and one focused on Economy Minister Silvio Schembri. Those applications are still being assessed by the courts.
His requests prompted Prime Minister Robert Abela to announce plans to revise existing laws, which allow private citizens to ask the courts to launch investigations. Abela said he wanted to “end abuse”.
Other inquiries Azzopardi has requested include one into an alleged racket at Identita’ and another concerning allegations about tourists being scammed by car hire firms with the help of enforcement agency LESA. Both those requests were accepted by the courts.
Another citizens’ request for a magisterial inquiry, centred on the privatisation of three state hospitals and also filed by Azzopardi on behalf of rule of law NGO Repubblika, has led to dozens of high-profile prosecutions.