Former Enemalta chairman fails to halt criminal proceedings against him

Former Enemalta chairman Tancred Tabone had his rights breached when he was forced to testify before a parliamentary committee over his alleged involvement in the oil scandal but this breach was not enough to annul the pending criminal proceedings against him, a judge has ruled. 

Tabone failed to convince the court that the testimony before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) had breached his human right to a fair hearing to the extent that the criminal proceedings against him had to be dropped. 

Mr Justice Joseph R Micallef, presiding over the First Hall of the Civil Court in its constitutional jurisdiction, said that although the court had found that there had been a violation of Tabone’s fundamental right it did not see as appropriate his request for the annulment and suspension of the proceedings pending before the Magistrates’ Court and his release from those proceedings. 

He, however, ordered that the court hearing the criminal case should be made fully aware of this constitutional decision by way of remedy for Tabone’s breach of rights and for his “peace of mind” that the court is aware of his complaints of a constitutional nature. 

Tabone is undergoing court proceedings...