Electronic tagging of persons granted bail pending criminal proceedings would ensure better protection for society, whilst placing less onerous conditions upon the accused who is still presumed innocent, a judge has declared.

In a strongly-worded decree upholding the request for bail for Terence Cini, who stands accused of conspiring to import 34 kilograms of cannabis grass, Madam Justice Consuelo Scerri Herrera reiterated her call for legislative changes to introduce such a “remote control” system over persons undergoing criminal proceedings.

Cini was arrested alongside Kevin Mifsud late one Saturday evening in February following days of surveillance by the police Drug Squad which placed officers on the trail of a van that was driven to a Zebbug garage shortly after disembarking from Sicily.

Two cars driven by the suspects were intercepted by the officers as they emerged from the garage.

A search of the van subsequently yielded a bag containing €300,000 in cash, as well as 34 one-kilo packets of cannabis grass, worth some €700,000.

Upon arraignment both men pleaded not guilty to a raft of charges.

But whereas his co-accused was later granted bail, Cini was still in preventive custody, three months since his arraignment on February 15, observed the judge.

A fresh request for bail was objected to by the prosecution although all civilian witnesses had testified and evidence was preserved in the records of the magisterial inquiry.

The Attorney General’s major concern stemmed from fear that Cini would not abide by bail conditions.

Judge Scerri Herrera said that did not mean that the court could not counter that fear in such manner as to strike a balance between justice owed to society and the accused’s own interests, pointing out that imprisonment was the exception while personal liberty was the rule.

She observed that according to recent pronouncements by the Constitutional Court, for the accused to be kept under preventive arrest there was not only to be a reasonable suspicion of his alleged wrongdoing, but also relevant and sufficient reasons to justify interfering in the person’s liberty.

In this light, electronic tagging would offer a twofold benefit.

Such “telematics monitoring” or remote control of the person granted bail would mean that society is better protected while less onerous bail conditions would be called for.

Judge Scerri Herrera has repeatedly called for electronic tagging to be made available when granting bail and made a similar, forceful request in a separate judgement passed earlier this month.    

The judge said the court’s repeated calls for the legislator to take action in this regard, had so far gone unheeded.

Since the State had failed to provide “adequate mechanisms” to monitor the movements of a person out on bail, the court said it placed that responsibility on the police, by ordering them to make repeated and surprise visits to ensure that Cini abided by court orders.

The main purpose of bail was to ensure that the accused turned up in court whenever due.

The court thus granted bail against a deposit of €20,000, a personal guarantee of €30,000, daily signing of the bail book and other conditions, besides regular monitoring by the police.

The judge ordered that a copy of her decree be sent to the Home Affairs and Justice Ministers in the hope of bringing about the necessary legislative intervention.

By creating an adequate mechanism, the State would cut down on crimes committed by persons while out on bail, concluded the judge.

Lawyers Franco Debono, Alfred Abela and Marion Camilleri are defence counsel.