The Nationalist Party is “uncomfortable” that a lawyer it had nominated to a prominent commission, and who represented Adrian Delia in the Egrant case, is now representing Joseph Muscat in court.
The alarm was raised when the former prime minister was seen walking into the courtroom with lawyer Vincent Galea, in an attempt to get the court to remove Magistrate Gabriella Vella from the inquiry into the hospitals’ privatisation.
Galea had represented former leader Adrian Delia in his case over the ownership of the secret offshore company Egrant, which Muscat has staunchly insisted he had no connection with.
Delia, who at the time was Opposition Leader, had also nominated him for a seat on the Commission for the Administration of Justice.
The commission - a constitutional body headed by the President of the Republic - is responsible for hearing complaints about judges, magistrates and lawyers.
PN sources said the party leadership was “shocked” when Galea appeared in court on behalf of Muscat on Tuesday, admitting that they initially thought it was a case of mistaken identity.
PN cannot remove Galea even if it wants to
But when it was confirmed that Galea was in fact representing Muscat, leader Bernard Grech called him for an explanation. The PN leader made no statement publicly dissociating himself and the party from Galea.
When contacted for comment, a party spokesperson would only say that commission members do not have a representative capacity.
That means that although Galea was nominated to the commission by the PN, he is not representing the party on it.
The spokesman added that once appointed, members cannot be removed from the commission during their term.
The commission is composed of the President of the Republic and nine other members: the chief justice, who serves as deputy chair; two members chosen by the judges of the Superior Court; two members chosen by the magistrates of the Inferior Courts; one member appointed by the prime minister and one by the opposition leader, and the president of the Chamber of Advocates.
The members chosen by the political parties must be “at least 45 years of age" and be people who have "the general respect of the public and a reputation of integrity and honesty”.
All members are chosen for a period of four years.
The current commission member representing the government, lawyer Paul Lia, has also served as Muscat's legal representative in a number of high-profile cases.
Galea: My integrity has never been doubted
When contacted, Galea said the commission does not bar him from practising his profession, and his role as a private practising lawyer does not influence his decisions in the commission.
"You will recall that in 2018, I was the lawyer who, together with other colleagues, filed a constitutional court case against the then-Attorney General because he refused to give the then-leader of the Opposition a copy of the Egrant Inquiry report.
"The Constitutional Court ordered the Attorney General to hand over a copy of the report as the Attorney General’s refusal breached the Leader of the Opposition’s fundamental human rights. This landmark judgment led to a change in the law."
He added: "My integrity, honesty and professionalism have never been doubted throughout my quasi-three-decade professional career."