A man facing drug possession charges is challenging a law that disqualifies him from the possibility of facing a rehabilitation board, simply because the drugs were found in prison.
David Gatt was caught with unspecified drugs inside Corradino Correctional Facility 11 years ago.
But while the Drug Dependence (Treatment not Imprisonment) Act allows the court to refer drug possession cases to a rehabilitation board, that provision does not apply “where the offence against the drug laws is one committed in or in relation to a correctional facility.”
In a constitutional application, Gatt’s lawyers are arguing that this clause discriminates against a specific category of individuals who are however still presumed innocent.
Gatt’s lawyers argued that their client was presumed innocent and had in the past years undergone drug rehabilitation, after benefitting from the Drug Dependence (Treatment not Imprisonment) Act in separate proceedings.
Today he was a totally changed and reformed man, his lawyers said.
Even if only for argument’s sake, the alleged offence did take place, that should not mean that such reformative measures were automatically inapplicable.
Article 13(b) of the Act in question tied the court’s hands by creating a specific category of individuals who are denied the right of having their case tried by a Drugs Court, the lawyers argued.
When cases are referred to a rehabilitation board, that board can give orders that spare the accused from an effective jail term.
A person who made an effort to overcome his drug habit should not be discriminated against just because the drug was found in prison, argued the lawyers.
They requested the First Hall, Civil Court in its constitutional jurisdiction to declare that this legal provision was discriminatory and breached the applicant’s right to a fair hearing.
They also asked for adequate remedies, including revocation of the Magistrate’s decree denying the request to assume the functions of a Drugs Court.
Lawyers Arthur Azzopardi and Jacob Magri signed the application.