Arrested persons will soon have the right to have a lawyer present during their interrogation once a new law is approved by Parliament.

Justice Minister Owen Bonnici told a news conference the bill to reform a number of other laws which are already in place is the implementation of an EU directive.

Attorney General Peter Grech explained that presently arrested persons only have the right to speak to their lawyer for up to one hour prior to the interrogation.

Now, the new law is providing for the physical presence of a lawyer during the actual interrogation.

The lawyer cannot speak during the interrogation but can only speak or make his remarks after the interrogation.

The bill strikes a balance between the protection of society and victims of crime and the protection of rights of the suspect.

Other countries introduced such a right decades ago but each country has its own methods on interrogations and investigations.

When asked by the Times of Malta, Dr Grech said lawyers cannot interrupt the interrogation so they cannot stop their client from replying to any specific questions.

He said he did not know whether the lawyer could even sit next to his client. Dr Bonnici said this will be determined through experience.

He said this right follows the introduction of other rights such as that of disclosure to know what evidence the police had against you.

The police have been consulted on this new Bill which will be presented for discussion once Parliament opens on October 10.