The Chamber of Advocates has refused to comment on the case of the two lawyers acquitted of bribing a Times of Malta journalist, arguing there is an ongoing internal investigation and it would be premature to comment before that is concluded.

In a statement issued after Times of Malta sent a number of questions, the chamber said:

"From an ethics perspective, the chamber had referred the matter for investigation by the Committee for Advocates and Legal Procurators back in November 2020, which investigation the chamber understands was suspended pending the outcome of the criminal proceedings, [so] it would be premature for the chamber to comment before that investigation is concluded." 

On Monday, Yorgen Fenech's lawyers Gianluca Caruana Curran and Charles Mercieca were cleared of attempting to bribe Times of Malta senior journalist Ivan Martin after the magistrate said the Attorney General had not indicated the relevant type of bribery.

At the end of a 20-minute meeting in Valletta in November 2020, Caruana Curran had handed over folded €500 notes to Martin, who refused the money.

But, when delivering the judgment, Magistrate Natasha Galea Sciberras observed that the case as it unfolded during the compilation of evidence and in line with the charges against the lawyers, involved active bribery.

However, in her note laying down the terms on which the court must pass judgment, Attorney General Victoria Buttigieg spoke of passive bribery in the private sector.

Passive bribery, the magistrate pointed out, was an offence that could only have been committed by the journalist himself but, in this case, he had firmly turned down the offer.

Because of this "mistake", the lawyers were cleared of the charges.

In its statement, the Chamber of Advocates said the judgment does not go into the merits of the case and the lawyers were acquitted because of an AG shortcoming.

"The chamber, having now had the opportunity of reading the judgment in its entirety, notes that the Court of Magistrates did not in any way enter into the merits of the case and acquitted Dr Caruana Curran and Dr Mercieca after deciding that the charges proffered by the Attorney General did not apply to the allegations made by the prosecution," it said.

Times of Malta sent questions to the Attorney General and asked for an explanation as to how the mistake was allowed to happen and asked the AG whether she will appeal the case and whether she will step down in light of the judgment.

The questions have not yet been answered.