Only independent fingerprint expert retires

There are no independent experts who can compare fingerprints for the courts - the only person who was eligible to do this has retired.

Joseph Bongailas, whom the courts used to appoint as expert to compare fingerprints, retired some three weeks ago.

Mr Bongailas was formerly employed with the police forensic department but retired years ago. There are several people in the police force who can make such comparisons, but because of a judgment handed down by the Maltese courts, the opinion of those working for the police is not admissible as evidence and only independent experts can give opinions in court.

The court had ruled that police can lift fingerprints and collect evidence from the scene of a crime but comparisons then had to be made by independent experts.

Some court experts working in different areas of expertise said when contacted last week, that they believed someone might retire from the police force to start working as an independent court expert in this field.

But others argued that there was not enough work for one person to make a living from that, and the issue of conflict of interest might still be raised, especially in cases where the expert is nominated to give an opinion about a case that may have happened when the expert nominated by the court was still in the police force.