Wasted court sittings, shortcomings by experts, a breakdown of communication between the police and the attorney general’s office and administrative failures brought criminal proceedings against an alleged drug dealer to a standstill, resulting in a breach of his fundamental rights.

Those, in a nutshell, were the main conclusions reached by Mr Justice Ian Spiteri Bailey in a judgment on the ‘complex’ case of Sebastian Dalli.

Thirteen years after the arraignment, the prosecution had still to wrap up evidence in the Magistrates’ Court against Dalli, the brother of former European commissioner John Dalli.

Bastjan Dalli’s right to a fair hearing was undoubtedly breached through the prosecution’s behaviour- Court

Four years ago, the prosecuting officer declared there was no further evidence but the attorney general still asked the court to determine whether the police had any other adequate evidence.

Ten times in 15 months, the attorney general sent the same note of referral that, invariably, got the same statement, that the prosecution “had no further evidence”.

'Insult to the court'

That lapse of time was deemed to be “an insult towards the court’s authority and the intelligence of the accused”, Mr Justice Spiteri Bailey pointed out in his strongly-worded judgment.

The judge made scathing remarks on the system that breached Dalli’s right to a fair hearing within a reasonable time. The court also made some practical suggestions not only to cut down the workload of the courts but, more so, to ensure the fundamental rights of the accused are not violated.

In February 2009, Dalli had been charged with conspiring to deal in cannabis after 30 kilos of the “drug” were intercepted on a yacht arriving from Libya.

Four other ‘co-conspirators’ had also been arrested.

It later turned out the “drug” was soap. Still, criminal proceedings dragged on until the defence applied for a constitutional reference that was upheld in January 2021 but it took another six months for things to get moving.

This happened because the case was first assigned to two judges who both recused themselves because they had presided over Dalli’s criminal case as magistrates.

When the matter ended up before Mr Justice Spiteri Bailey a year ago, he had to delve into 13 years of court records, ultimately finding that Dalli’s rights had been breached.

Full complement of judiciary required

“Shocked” by the state of affairs, the judge commented that legal amendments and procedures were simply not enough unless the state provided the “necessary administrative backup” to all institutions involved in the administration of justice.

The courts required a full complement of magistrates and judges, equipped with trained staff. The attorney general needed sufficient and specialised lawyers wanting to become prosecutors. The police required all the support they could get and “should never be demoralised”.

On the contrary, Mr Justice Spiteri Bailey said, they should get all necessary tools to handle investigations efficiently.

There were many wasted sittings- Court

The court noted in its judgment that before 2018 the prosecution had declared it had taken almost 10 years to wrap up its evidence because the case was “complex,” involving “long and voluminous intercepts”.

However, the judge observed, there were many “wasted sittings” between 2009 and 2018, mostly not attributable to the accused and, sometimes, “for no reason at all.”

Letters rogatory hampered the proceedings, Dalli was at times granted permission to travel on dates when a court sitting was scheduled and court experts did not help to speed up the process. Two of the experts failed to do their work.

The prosecutor reported the police had a communication problem with the attorney general’s office with different lawyers handling the case over the years. The criminal proceedings also changed hands twice as two magistrates were appointed judges.

AG urged to make up his mind

A string of minutes in the case file by the courts urged the attorney general to make up his mind.

On three occasions post-2018, the Magistrates’ Court “invited” the attorney general “to decide what to do with these proceedings to avoid further delay”.

Finally, in February 2020, the attorney general wanted more witnesses.

Insisting on the evidence of the other alleged co-conspirators, whose proceedings had also ground to a halt, only added to the delay, the judge commented yesterday.

The accused chose not to testify before their case was wrapped up and Dalli refused to testify against them.

The attorney general should have realised there could be no breakthrough in this impasse, the judge observed.

The COVID-19 pandemic also contributed to more delay.

As for the lack of communication with the attorney general’s office, the court expressed “disappointment” given that the means of communication were so advanced. Expediency was paramount, especially as a party was still presumed innocent.

Dalli’s right to a fair hearing was undoubtedly breached through the prosecution’s behaviour, the judge concluded. He sent the records back to the Magistrates’ Court ordering that a copy of the judgment be sent to the attorney general, the police commissioner and the justice and home affairs ministers.

 Lawyers Arthur Azzopardi and Jacob Magri were counsel to Dalli.