Labour to move motion on right to legal assistance

The Labour Party has called for the immediate introduction of the right to legal assistance during police interrogation and yesterday gave notice of a parliamentary motion on the matter.

Seven years ago, Parliament had unanimously approved legal changes to make it possible for people to have their lawyer present during a police interrogation. However, the provision never came into effect because the relevant legal notice was never published.

The motion, to be presented by Labour spokesmen José Herrera and Michael Falzon, calls for the legal notice to be published 30 days after the parliamentary debate takes place.

The issue was an "urgent matter" they insisted, especially in the light of various European Court of Human Rights judgments that affirmed the right to legal counsel.

Last week, Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici said on TVM that the legal notice would be introduced when the police had DNA-testing apparatus in their possession. This apparatus was being seen as a measure that would balance the lag in crime-solving which the notice would entail.

Dr Mifsud Bonnici did not commit to a specific date and a ministry spokesman said he had nothing to add to the comment when contacted yesterday.

A statement issued by the ministry said the process for the purchase of the DNA apparatus had already started. Police Commissioner John Rizzo last month told The Sunday Times that, although the right to legal aid had to be introduced, the police had to be prepared for its introduction and "find other modern means to make up for the drop in the solving rate" of crime.

Last month, Nationalist backbencher Franco Debono had alluded to the delay in the introduction of the right to legal assistance during interrogations as one of the motives for his no-show in Parliament.