Lawyers for Frederick Azzopardi argued on Tuesday that criminal action against the former Infrastructure Malta boss was extinguished not only because an administrative penalty had been paid, but also because the action was time-barred. 

Those were the dual preliminary pleas raised by Azzopardi’s defence team when proceedings kicked off against him for alleged breach of environment protection laws regarding a case dating to 2019. 

The case concerned an incident when Infrastructure Malta workers defied a stop and compliance notice issued by the Environment and Resources Authority over illegal works at Wied Qirda in Żebbuġ. 

Plants and protected trees were uprooted and habitats in the sensitive ecological area were destroyed as a result of the agency's decision to reinforce a road leading to a private residence in the rural area. 

Halt orders issued by ERA and affixed to machinery on site were simply removed by workers who continued with the road works in the valley.

Earlier this year, Anthony Camilleri, the contractor responsible for those works incurred a €36,000 fine imposed by the Magistrates’ Court for ignoring that stop notice and proceeding with the works in breach of Environment Protection legislation. 

Call for magistrate's recusal

That decision was brought up at Tuesday’s hearing against Azzopardi by his lawyers, who used it as grounds to request the magistrate’s recusal.

They only flagged the issue when the court was about to hear prosecution witnesses.

That would mean that the court would be entering into the merits of the case, and since presiding Magistrate Elaine Mercieca had decided the case against the contractor which concerned the same facts, her recusal was being sought, argued the lawyers. 

The request was made in light of the principle of fair trial, said lawyer Stephen Tonna Lowell.

And also because in criminal proceedings, the court needed to face each case with no previously expressed opinion, a ‘tabula rasa,’ argued lawyer Stefano Filletti. 

The court is expected to deliver a decree on this issue at the next hearing. 

At the start of the sitting, prosecuting Inspector Elliott Magro requested an amendment to the date of the charges, replacing the original date, February 6, 2020, with April 16, 2020.

That implied that the alleged illegal works stopped in April rather than February.

Azzopardi accepted notification of the amended charges and pleaded not guilty. 

Time-barred criminal action

His lawyers then argued that the action was extinguished because the administrative penalty had been settled and also because the criminal action itself was time-barred.

Graziella Tabone, an environment protection officer from ERA took the witness stand and was asked to confirm a letter issued by Enforcement Director Amy Brincat, dated March 24, 2022, attesting that the fine had been paid and that the works had not lasted more than three months.

However, the witness explained that she had not worked on the matter and could not confirm those facts claimed by Azzopardi’s lawyers. 

In light of that testimony, the court directed that the director who had signed that letter was to testify in that regard.

The case continues in September.

Lawyers Rachel Powell and Ana Thomas also assisted Azzopardi.