Judge grants former PM Joseph Muscat partial access to Vitals inquiry

A judge has granted Joseph Muscat, with immediate effect, partial access to the magisterial inquiry into the Vitals hospital deal, but rejected the disgraced former Prime Minister’s request to suspend the effects of the inquiring magistrate’s April 4 decree, refusing Muscat disclosure.

The court ruling, however, only allows Muscat access to the documents in the inquiry in which he is mentioned.

“The court is of the opinion that without concrete evidence of that being alleged by the applicant, Dr. Joseph Muscat, it would not be possible for this court to arrive at a conclusion either way. As the proces verbal is not strictly exhibited in a criminal case on the merits and in homage to the principle of equality of arms and of transparency in the correct administration of justice, the court needs to see the documentation which the applicant is complaining about, for itself. At the same time, because the applicant’s complaints do not concern the entirety of the magisterial inquiry, but only from the moment that Muscat became a subject of it, there is no need to exhibit the inquiry in its entirety.”

The judge ordered the AG to exhibit all the documentation from the inquiry, starting from the date of the application filed by Repubblika, which concerns Muscat until the inquiry’s end, and he also ordered that the documents be secured in the judge's chambers.

He explained that this was necessary because Muscat’s complaints dealt with the inquiring magistrate’s refusal of Muscat’s request that she recuse herself, Muscat’s application for full disclosure and the fact that he was not notified when the application which started the inquiry was filed in 2019.

The judge clarified that the AG must exhibit every document in this regard, “but other parts of the inquiry are not required unless the court decides otherwise during the course of the proceedings.”

Judge Giovanni Grixti’s ruling effectively brings to an end the year-long battle by Muscat’s lawyers to obtain access to the inquiry. The judge also upheld Muscat’s requests to order the immediate enforceability of the decree and for the abbreviation of the time window in which the State Advocate can request the Chief Justice’s permission to file an appeal.

In 2019, Mr. Justice Grixti had overturned another magistrate's order to hold an inquiry into the VGH hospitals deal, after also having blocked yet another magistrate's order for an inquiry into the Panama Papers scandal.

Lawyers Vince Galea and Charlon Gouder are assisting Joseph Muscat, who did not attend Thursday’s sitting.

Assistant State Advocate James D’Agostino represented the State and the Attorney General.

Reacting to the ruling, Repubblika’s Robert Aquilina wrote that Prime Minister Robert Abela was allowing himself to be used by Muscat’s lawyers to weaken the Attorney General and State Advocate’s position in court on social media.

“Now everyone can see with their own eyes who is really working against the interest of the people of Malta and Gozo! It is shameful to see Robert Abela enabling attempts to evade justice by persons earmarked by a criminal inquiry for prosecution on very serious criminal charges,” Aquilina said.