The government has enough information to proceed with its magisterial inquiry reforms, Jonathan Attard said when asked why the government failed to consult the public.

On Thursday, the justice minister was asked if the government had done enough to consult on the controversial inquiry reforms.

“We have enough knowledge based on court sentences and decrees on the aspects that needed amending and fixing through the reform,” Attard said.

Among several amendments, changes to the way private individuals can request criminal inquiries and what evidence can be considered to open an investigation have proven to be the most controversial.

Currently, individuals can directly file a request for the courts to investigate an alleged criminal act without involving the police. The proposed changes mean that people will have to approach the police first before filing a request with a judge six months later.

The proposed bill also states that only evidence admissible in court can be used to request an inquiry.

Prime Minister Robert Abela announced a legislative reform to Malta’s magisterial inquiry system last December.

Those changes passed through the first parliamentary stage in January and are currently being debated in parliament. It is understood that the government wants to pass the bill into law as soon as possible.

This legislative timetable is significantly faster than the usual parliamentary process.

In January, nine civil society organisations called on the government to publish a White Paper on the reforms before passing the bill into law. The proposal has also drawn large protests and been criticised as harmful to the rule of law by two former chief justices. 

But Attard on Thursday said that the government was basing its reforms on several reports.

“These reports told us to remove inquiries from the hands of magistrates and hand over the responsibility to prosecutors. Those were the recommendations, but we did not only want to respect our legal traditions but also the fact that our system trusts the process of judicial review.”

“This reform respects all of the country’s institutions,” he said.In a recent Times of Malta opinion article, Attard pointed to reports from the “Law Commission, numerous court pronouncements, and recommendations from two significant commissions – the Bonello Commission and the Venice Commission”.

Attard said the reforms will grant more rights to citizens while also assigning responsibility to all those involved in the inquiry process.

He said the Labour Party announced its intention to implement reforms to the inquiry system in its general election manifesto.

“The reforms began when we made a policy decision to appoint four additional magistrates who are focused on inquiries.” 

The process has started to bear fruit in terms of efficiency, he said. 

“I always spoke publicly about how that first step needs to be complemented with legislative change,” Attard added.