Student Societies Unite To Show ‘Solidarity With The Judiciary’ While Condemning Abela’s Recent Attacks
Student organisations have united to show their solidarity with the judiciary, following Prime Minister Robert Abela’s recent allegations about magistrate Gabriella Vella who recently concluded the Vitals Healthcare inquiry.
GĦSL, in collaboration with another 20 organisations, released a statement on Facebook, condemning his comment that warned Vella not to engage in “political terrorism” while questioning the timing of the inquiry’s conclusion.
“The Rule of Law requires that the Judiciary is allowed to function without undue pressure. Comments made by the highest government officials which devalue the work and tarnish the reputation and integrity of the judiciary have no place in a parliamentary democracy founded on the rule of law,” they stated.
GħSL stated that Abela’s insinuation that the timing of the inquiry’s conclusion was planned to disrupt the European Parliament and Local Councils elections reflected badly on the magistrate’s impartiality.
“The Prime Minister is blatantly misinterpreting article 550A of the Criminal Code,” GħSL President Andrew Drago told Lovin Malta.
“The Criminal Code does not oblige the magistrate to conclude an inquiry within 60 days, but rather that the Magistrate must give reasons to the Attorney General as to why an inquiry did prolong for more than 60 days.”
Inquiries take a lot of time to be concluded due to several reasons, stated GħSL, mainly because magistrates have other duties apart from investigations.
Furthermore, the lack of staff renders the process more tedious. The fact that Magistrates are required to sign every page of the final investigation further adds to the lengthy process.
This unified stance was also shown on Instagram, with all respective organisations sharing a poster with the slogan “Solidarity with the Judiciary”.
The endorsing organisations were:
Għaqda Studenti tal-Liġi (GħSL)
Junior Chamber of Advocates (JCA)
Earth Systems Association (ESA)
The Malta International Relations Student Association (MIRSA)
Medical Biochemistry Students’ Association (MBSA)
Studenti Demokristjani Maltin (SDM)
Studenti Ħarsien Soċjali (SHS)
University of Malta Rowing Club (UM rowing)
Young European Federalists (JEF)
Media & Knowledge Sciences Association (MKSA)
Kunsill Studenti Universitarji (KSU)
Malta Medical Students’ Association (MMSA)
University Engineering Students’ Association (UESA)
University Students of Performing Arts Association (USPA)
Criminology Students’ Association (CSA)
Association of Linguistics and Language Technology (ALLT)
Malta Association of Dental Students (MADS)
Psychology Students Organisation (BETAPSI)
Terra Di Mezzo (TDM) 2000 Malta
Science Students’ Society (S-Cubed)
ICT Students’ Association (ICTSA)
Do you agree with the student organisations?