'Not an attack on the judiciary' - Justice Minister plays down Prime Minister's comments about '€10 million' Vitals inquiry

Justice Minister Jonathan Attard disagrees with classifying the Prime Minister’s insinuation of ulterior motives in Magistrate Gabriella Vella's completion of the Vitals inquiry earlier this week, as an attack on the judiciary.

“We have systematically strengthened the public trust in the judiciary,” Attard told RTK host Andrew Azzopardi, who asked him about the Prime Minister's claim that the publication of the inquiry was timed to coincide with the local elections on Saturday. Pointing to the Gonzi administration of decades past, he said “I ask what they did for the judiciary, at a time when the judiciary was gripped by scandal.”

Treading a fine line between not contradicting his Prime Minister while at the same time not vilifying the judiciary,  Attard said it would be incorrect to send the message that we do not have a strong and independent court, but said that it would be a mistake not to express his concern at the timing of the inquiry’s completion.

“It is not an attack on the judiciary. How can we, when we’ve invested so much in the judiciary?” Attard said, pointing to the growing cohort of judges and magistrates appointed by this administration.

“Karol Aquilina just now spoke of an attack on the judiciary, did he forget his attacks on magistrate Nadine Lia and Mr. Justice Giovanni Grixti?” He praised Mr. Justice Wenzu Mintoff. Has he forgotten Paul Borg Olivier’s criticism at the time of Mintoff’s appointment?”

Attard accused Opposition leader Bernard Grech of “also putting pressure on the institutions,” by insisting on action being taken.

“We are telling the people. Make your own decision on the timing. Four years, over €10 million spent on this inquiry….everyone appointing experts at their own discretion.”

Vitals Inquiry cost €10,000,000, Minister says

Attard said that the four year long criminal inquiry into the disastrous sale of three public hospitals to Vitals Global Healthcare, which has already been described as fraudulent in a civil case for damages, had come at a cost of €10 million.

“We are telling the people: ‘make your own decision on the timing’,” insisted the minister. “Four years, over €10 million spent on this inquiry….everyone appointing experts at their own discretion.”

Attard said he agreed that the inquiry could not have been completed in the default 60 day period laid down by the law, “but it shouldn’t have taken four years either.”

He hadn’t seen the inquiry, he said, but added that “we think the timing will have a bearing.”

Like the Prime Minister yesterday, Attard too appeared to value the wisdom of crowds over the Magistrate’s conclusions, whatever they may be.

“The public will show what it thinks [of the inquiry],” Attard told the radio show host.

“Our message is clear in that you have a situation where court processes can damage the political work of the government, and yes this requires a free expression of the will of the electorate,” said the Minister, adding that the Rule of Law “is based on free expression.”

Karol Aquilina rebuts Labour's 'ridiculou' suggestion about inquiry conclusion timing

Another guest on Azzopardi's radio show, shadow justice minister Karol Aquilina, rubbished the suggestion that the inquiry's conclusion had been  timed strategically.

“Justice shouldn’t stop because of an electoral campaign, it should carry on whatever the circumstances," Aquilina said. “The fact that the prime minister is accusing the magistrate of having electoral timing in mind is ridiculous."

Aquilina stressed that many magistrates and judges who had been politicians prior to their appointment to the Bench had proven to be competent and respected members of the judiciary.