A man whose murder case bounced between various judges has won a legal battle to have the most recent judicial assignment in the case struck off.
Madam Justice Edwina Grima will abstain from proceedings concerning Aleksandr Stojanovic, whose lawyers resorted to the special habeas corpus procedure to challenge the continued legality of Stojanovic’s arrest.
Her decision to abstain is in line with an order by Chief Justice Mark Chetcuti.
Stojanovic is awaiting trial for the 2018 murder of Egyptian Walid Salah Abdel Motaleb Mohammed. He spent several weeks in a sort of legal limbo, unable to request bail, as his case was transferred from one judge to another.
The accused’s lawyers had filed a bail application on behalf of the 43-year-old Serbian national and resorted to a second application some six weeks later, after getting no reply to their initial request.
They also filed a parallel application challenging the legality of his continued arrest.
The Criminal Court, presided over by Madam Justice Edwina Grima, heard how the case had changed hands from Madam Justice Consuelo Scerri Herrera, who abstained when her brother, former MP lawyer Jose’ Herrera, joined the defence team, on to Mr Justice Aaron Bugeja, then Madam Justice Audrey Demicoli.
It was finally re-assigned to Madam Justice Grima who appointed a hearing without delay.
During that hearing, the court heard that when the case was assigned to Mr Justice Bugeja, the assignment was signed by the President of Malta who declared that he was relying on the advice of the “minister.”
The defence argued that in terms of the Constitution, such assignment was the sole prerogative of the Chief Justice who issued his recommendation which was then to be signed by the President.
However, over the years the courts’ administration had introduced a mistaken practice of including a communication of the Chief Justice’s recommendation to the Attorney General and the Justice Minister.
That unwarranted step in the process had triggered doubts about the selection of the judge who was to preside over the upcoming trial of Yorgen Fenech.
The procedure was rectified following a strongly-worded decision by the Constitutional Court slamming the courts’ administrative mistake in proceedings filed by Fenech’s lawyers.
The scenario was laid out before Madam Justice Grima during the habeas corpus hearing.
The judge subsequently turned down the defence’s arguments, confirming the legality of the arrest and appointing the case for a hearing on bail.
However, on Tuesday, following an order by the Chief Justice, Madam Justice Grima issued a decree whereby she explained that since the assignment of duties “was not carried out according to law” it was invalid.
Consequently the judge abstained from taking further cognizance of the case and sent the records to the Registrar of Courts for the case to be assigned to another judge.
AG lawyers Anthony Vella and Etienne Savona are prosecuting. Lawyers Jose’ Herrera, Franco Debono and Francesca Zarb are defence counsel.