Publication of the inquiry into the death of Gunner Matthew Psaila will not pre-judge the criminal proceedings against two soldiers, according to the advice of the Attorney General.
The Office of the Prime Minister said that the Attorney General had no objection to the publication of the inquiry since "the court hearing the case will remain completely free to decide the case upon its own independent judgment".
When asked whether the board of inquiry had gone beyond its brief when it pointed out that nobody could be held to blame for Gunner Psaila's death, the spokesman said the board of inquiry had been commissioned to "evaluate all the circumstances related to the fatal accident that occurred during training by the C (Special Duties) Company at Chadwick Lakes".
The inquiry was published last Friday and, despite finding serious failures in army training, it put down the soldier's death to "misadventure".
The conclusion contrasted sharply with separate police investigations that led to two army officers being charged with involuntary homicide earlier this year.
The spokesman said that three different inquiries were held in relation to the tragic incident and each inquiry was independent of the other.
"Following the magisterial inquiry, criminal proceedings are underway in accordance with law. The inquiry report (commissioned by the Prime Minister) was published by the Office of the Prime Minister following advice obtained from the Office of the Attorney General," the spokesman said.
Gunner Psaila died on February 13 during a training exercise at Chadwick Lakes, which included wading through water that at times reached depths of up to two metres.
The army had launched its own internal inquiry. This was followed by another inquiry appointed by the Prime Minister, who is responsible for the AFM.
The second inquiry was led by retired judge Victor Caruana Colombo and included two other members: former brigadier John Spiteri and Joseph Sultana.
The inquiry found that the safety arrangements in place were "inadequate". There were only three supervisory officers during the exercise, when the "normal complement" should have been six.
It also found that the AFM had no standing orders that covered troop safety during training and no senior army officer connected in any way with training "assumed responsibility for safety of personnel while on training".
Nonetheless, the inquiry stated that "no individual can be held to blame for the death of Gunner Matthew Psaila".
ksansone@timesofmalta.com