Update 2: Legal assistance for people under arrest as from next month

(Adds PL and PN statements)

People under arrest may be able to consult a lawyer or a legal procurator before they are interrogated by the police as from February 10.

This follows the publication of a legal notice in today’s Government Gazette announcing amendments to the Criminal Code.

PL STATEMENT

In a statement the PL said that the government did not do anything for seven years but now that Parliament had to decide on a date to debate a PL motion on the issue, it published the legal notice.

Spokesmen Jose Herrera and Michael Falzon said it was clear that the government took this decision not because it was convinced of its need but because it was afraid to face a Parliamentary vote on the matter.

The legal notice, they said, was a victory for the PL and for civil rights in Malta.

PN STATEMENT

In another statement, the Nationalist Party accused the PL of trying to take the merit for the government’s decision.

The Nationalist government had decided on the matter in 2002 and the date when people under arrest were to become entitled to legal assistance was now announced.

The PN said it had always given the utmost importance to safeguarding justice and individual freedom.

It said that MP Franco Debono had worked hard for the amendment to come into effect and created a public conscience on the matter.

He always found the minister’s support and the necessary structure for this to come into effect was now in place.