Updated Tuesday 7.35am
The Commissioner for Standards in Public Life had dismissed a call by Labour MP Glenn Bedingfield for an investigation into how Nationalist MP Jason Azzopardi acquired information which led him to claim that a young prosecutor made a court declaration behind the attorney general's back, sparing jail for a public official.
The call was made by Bedingfield while speaking in parliament, but Azzopardi said in a Facebook post several hours later that it had been dismissed by the commissioner.
Last week, Azzopardi claimed in parliament that a government official at the Fisheries Department who had been convicted of money laundering and fraud had avoided a jail term thanks to the intervention of lawyer Charles Mercieca. At the time Mercieca worked at the Attorney General’s Office.
According to the shadow minister, Mercieca had played a crucial role as he had been behind a court declaration which was issued without the consent of the AG.
While branding the move as “very suspicious”, Azzopardi noted that Mercieca was also the lawyer who recently stoked controversy after leaving the prosecution team at the AG’s office to join the defence of alleged Daphne Caruana Galizia murder conspirator Yorgen Fenech.
The shadow minister, added that there were suspicions of collusion on the grounds that Mercieca was a close personal friend of the son of Madam Justice Consuelo Scerri Herrera who had presided over the fisheries abuse case involving this government official. Moreover, Azzopardi remarked that Mercieca had been engaged in talks with the Fisheries Department to become its legal consultant, while he was prosecuting a senior official there.
Consequently, the shadow minister has called on the Commission for the Administration for Justice to look into the matter.
Bedingfield calls for investigation on Azzopardi himself
Nearly a week later, Bedingfield said that he had requested Standards Commissioner George Hyzler to investigate Azzopardi, on the grounds that this Opposition MP was casting a shadow on the integrity of Judge Scerri Herrera. Such behaviour was in breach of the MPs’ code of ethics, he said.
As for the merits of the judgment at the heart of this controversy, Bedignfield said the defendant had not been sent to prison as he was over 60 years, had a clean police conduct sheet and had pleaded guilty and admitted the charges.
Bedingfield asked how Azzopardi was aware that Mercieca had not sought the AG’s consent when not insisting on a prison sentence.
Such sensitive information should not be released by any member of the Office of the Attorney General and under the criminal code any breach of this confidentiality clause could result in up to a year imprisonment.
The Government whip urged the Standards Commissioner to look into the matter or else refer it to the police for a criminal investigation should this case not fall within his remit.
In his first reaction, Azzopardi wrote in a Facebook post he said he was looking forward to the probe by the Standards Commissioner.
But several hours later he said Bedingfield's request had been turned down.
"The Commissioner for Standards in Public Life has immediately thrown out the frivolous report made by the Govt MP who was getting all excited just because he started reading some Law. The fastest ever dismissal of a report filed by a Member of Parliament. Less than 8 (EIGHT) hours for a Parliamentary Commissioner to send a MP packing," he wrote.
In a letter to Mr Bedingfield, the commission said the complaint did not warrant investigation (see letter below).
