Updated 12.20pm with Labour statement
Jason Azzardi’s attempt to trigger a magisterial inquiry into Economy Minister Silvio Schembri has been definitively dismissed, with a judge confirming an initial decision to disregard the request.
Mr Justice Neville Camilleri ruled on Friday that there were no valid legal grounds to reconsider the original decision taken by Magistrate Antoine Mifsud Bonnici.
The court dismissed claims of procedural unfairness and concluded that media reports cited by Azzopardi in his original application did not clearly allege criminal conduct.
Azzopardi, a lawyer and former Nationalist Party MP, had sought to launch a probe into Schembri’s wealth, saying the minister’s lifestyle did not tally with his declared income.
He cited multiple media reports in his court application, most of which were published by The Shift News without a byline.
In responding to Azzopardi’s application, Schembri presented a written declaration by Ivan Camilleri, in which Camilleri declared that he had written the articles in question and was “satisfied” with explanations provided by the minister about the allegations made within the articles.
Azzopardi had objected to that declaration and also said the court had unfairly allowed the minister to make submissions without giving him the opportunity to respond. He filed an appeal against the original decision to dismiss the inquiry request.
In Friday’s judgement, the court dismissed Azzopardi’s objections, finding no grounds to overturn the original decision to dismiss the inquiry request.
However it emphasised that it was “perfectly acceptable” for a request for a magisterial inquiry to be based on media reports – something a revised inquiry law on the cusp of being passed through parliament would effectively prohibit.
However, in this particular case the media reports had not linked the minister to specific crimes cited by Azzopardi, such as money laundering or trading in influence. At most, they indicated poor administration of public assets, the court said.
In any case, the court noted, the magistrate had not based his original decision to dismiss the inquiry request on Camilleri’s declaration about the articles he wrote.
The court also noted that a National Audit Office report into the lease of an office of the Malta Business Registry – a report Azzopardi highlighted in his application- had not concluded that any crime had taken place.
Labour: Bernard Grech must dissociate PN from Azzopardi
In a statement, the Labour Party said Azzopardi had "lied" about Schembri, as he had done about minister Owen Bonnici, cabinet secretary Ryan Spagnol and Lands Authority CEO Robert Vella in the past.
It said the PN often made Azzopardi's allegations its own and called protests on the basis of them.
"The people expect Bernard Grech to reject and disassociate himself and the PN from Jason Azzopardi. Nothing short of that would be acceptable," it said.
Azzopardi resigned from the PN in 2022 following a public and acrimonious split between himself and Grech, the party leader.