The Attorney General has filed a counter-protest to Opposition Leader Adrian Delia's decision to take legal action over the formers refusal to hand him copy of the report of the inquiry carried out by Magistrate Aaron Bugeja on Egrant, arguing that legislation stipulates that political considerations must not be taken into when it comes to the publication of a magisterial inquiry.
Delia filed the protest on 26 July, explaining that the AG's decision to only provide Prime Minister Joseph Muscat with a full copy of the report is leading to a political imbalance between the government and opposition
The AG's refusal is not justified and goes against the national interest and transparency, a Nationalist Party statement said.
Muscat has said that a redacted copy of the full inquiry will be made available in the coming days.
In his counter-protest, the AG quoted Article 518, noting that the law stipulates that it is up to his discretion as to who is provided with a copy of the report; adding that inquiry also indicated that investigations or criminal procedures may be opened against certain individuals.
He clarified that he provided the PM with a full copy of the inquiry following a verbal request, explaining that the PM and his family were the subjects of the report.
The AG also argued that the publication of the inquiry's conclusions was enough to satisfy the needs of public interest.
He said that it is also clear in the constitution and other legislation that the AG must not make his considerations with regards to magisterial inquiries according to politics.
This, he said, was the clear distinction between Muscat's and Delia's requests.
from The Malta Independent https://ift.tt/2LRoOu3
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