The Speaker and the clerk of the House have forcefully rebutted claims by civil society group Repubblika that they were abusing their power by blocking public access to the strangers’ gallery.
Speaker Anġlu Farrugia and clerk of the house Raymond Scicluna filed a judicial act on Tuesday to counter allegations made by Repubblika through a judicial protest filed last Thursday.
The group had repeatedly requested access to the strangers’ gallery so as to view parliamentary proceedings from within the chamber.
But the Speaker argued that given the current pandemic scenario, it was not safe to allow members of the public to enter the gallery above the parliamentary chamber.
That was a “weak excuse”, Repubblika argued, claiming that such a measure went against standing orders governing parliamentary procedure and further constituted a breach of the European Convention on Human Rights.
The Speaker and the clerk of the House are claiming that attendance in parliament is regulated solely by the House “as it should be in any self-respecting democracy”.
Given that the COVID-19 pandemic was still ongoing, Parliament had a right to take all necessary measures to safeguard the wellbeing of the people’s representatives.
The Speaker’s decision allowing only media into the strangers’ gallery had been taken in such light and consequent to a unanimous decision reached by the House Business Committee in October.
That committee’s decision was still in place, pointed out the parties in their counter-protest filed in the First Hall, Civil Court.
Moreover, standing order 165 clearly stated that no outsider had an automatic right to be admitted into parliament.
That order, coupled with the committee's decision, provided the basis for the speaker’s decision, said the parties’ lawyers.
It was also pointed out that both speaker Farrugia and the clerk were instrumental in setting up live streaming of parliamentary sessions on parliament’s television channel and website, enabling viewers to follow “all the way from Australia and worldwide”.
Lawyers Ian Refalo and John Refalo signed the counter-protest.