Two parallel appeals stemming from a judge’s decision to hand Yorgen Fenech data from Keith Schembri’s phone were postponed on Monday because of COVID-19 reasons.
Neither Fenech nor his lawyers were present when the police commissioner’s appeal was called this morning, with sources saying that the Tumas group businessman was currently in quarantine.
The appeals were filed separately last month by the Police Commissioner and the State Advocate in his personal capacity respectively, following a decision by Mr Justice Lawrence Mintoff in proceedings where Fenech is seeking to have lead investigator Keith Arnaud removed from the Daphne Caruana Galizia murder case.
When it emerged that the police had in their possession a mobile phone seized from the former OPM chief of staff in separate investigations allegedly linking him to financial crimes, Fenech’s lawyers insisted that the device contained data that was “essential” to their case.
Police Commissioner Angelo Gafa’ objected to their request but the court ultimately ruled in favour of Fenech’s lawyers.
On that occasion, the State Advocate had informed the judge that the commissioner would abide by that ruling, while highlighting the fact that disclosure of the data could prejudice ongoing police investigations.
But subsequently, during a sitting on December 16, another lawyer from the State Advocate’s office informed the court that the commissioner had had a change of heart and would be appealing the decision granting Fenech access to Schembri’s phone.
That announcement was not met favourably by Mr Justice Mintoff who proceeded to suspend the sitting, summon the State Advocate and then hand him down a €500 fine for contempt of court, on account of the fact that the judge deemed Chris Soler to have lacked the “courtesy” of informing him about the commissioner’s appeal.
Soler appealed that decision which he described as “very unfair,” making it amply clear in his appeal application that he had neither drafted nor signed the commissioner’s appeal and could therefore not have informed Judge Mintoff about it.
A first hearing of that appeal, originally scheduled for Monday morning, was impacted by COVID-19 reasons.
The other appeal by the police commissioner, which was also scheduled to start on Monday before the Constitutional Court, was also impacted by the pandemic and had to be adjourned.
Lawyers Maurizio Cordina and Miguel De Gabriele from the State Advocate’s Office are representing the police commissioner in those proceedings.
Both appeals, now scheduled to start on January 24, are presided by Chief Justice Mark Chetcuti, Mr Justices Giannino Caruana Demajo and Anthony Ellul.