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'Peralta case will be investigated in the coming days' - George Abela
Chairman of the Commission for the Administration of Justice says investigation into Magistrate's actions will take place in the coming days.
21 December 2013, 12:00am
Staff Reporter
Staff Reporter
2 min read
Chairman of the Commission for the Administration of Justice George Abela
An investigation into Magistrate Carol Peralta will be launched in the coming days, three days after Peralta hosted a Christmas party in the law courts and subsequently arrested a reporter who refused to give his particulars after he was caught trying to take pictures of the ongoing party, the Chairman of the Commission for the Administration of Justice President George Abela said.
Yesterday Parliamentary Secretary for Justice Owen Bonnici said that he expects an expedite investigation and conclusion of the Carol Peralta case while the Nationalist Party called for his immediate resignation saying his position has become "untenable".
Bonnici also sent a letter to President George Abela, as chairman, urging the Commission to investigate the case. Abela has since confirmed that the letter has been passed on to the members of the commission.
In light of Peralta's actions, most notably the "abusive" and "illegal" arrest of a reporter while carrying out his duties, the government and the opposition vehemently lambasted Peralta's actions. The PN has called for the immediate resignation of Peralta. It said that it was extremely concerned and disappointed that a member of the judiciary ordered the arrest of a reporter while carrying out his duties. The PN also called for an immediate remedy to rectify the arrest and Peralta's actions.
On his part, Junior Minister Bonnici condemned Peralta's actions, particularly the arrest and his hosting of a Christmas party but said that Peralta remained defiant.
"Unfortunately, the Magistrate refused to understand that his actions were wrong and continued insisting with his position."
Addressing a press conference at his home in Mdina, Peralta said that he was "well within his rights" to order the arrest of the reporter and remained defiant in the wake of calls for his resignation by the Opposition dubbing allegations of abuse of power as "insignificant."
On the other hand, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said that it is a "travesty" for a reporter to be arrested while carrying out his duties, and said that the events further proved that a change is needed within the Constitution to afford the Commission for the Administration of Justice greater remedies.
Acting upon an investigation, the Commission can order an impeachment motion to oust Magistrate Peralta from his post.
Prior to the impeachment motion being initiated, a parliamentary motion listing the reasons of the alleged misbehaviour, has to be filed by the Prime Minister. Nevertheless, due to the limited powers of the legislative body and the notion of the separation of powers, it is the only remedy the government can exhaust. Consequently, the filing of the motion does not necessarily entail the ousting of Peralta from his post.
However, if the Commission's investigation proves that Peralta abused of his powers, parliament will then debate and vote on the impeachment motion to oust Magistrate Carol Peralta.
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By his own admission the magistrate doesn't think he has done anything wrong, inappropriate, disrespectful or even unlawful. This is a person charged with dispensing justice, surely there is a serious issue here. Of course he will not resign, why should when he obviously believes in 'two weights & two measures' and equally it seems obvious that he has been allowed to uphold that belief over many years. The magistrate should be removed from his job, as he clearly is not a person who is able to practice what he preaches. How can any society function properly when members the judiciary behave in such an inappropriate manner.
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Did the reporter have an id clearly visible.?
A lot of apologies are in order.
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Can someone tell where can someone make party in the Law Courts except in the basement. As far as the reports where revealing, nothing illegal was going on inside the court room. Why all this fuss? Maybe Mag. Peralta had poor judgement and can be reprimanded otherwise let's start the New Year with a clean sheet. The problem at the Law Courts is that the existing building is too crowded and hazardous with hundreds of people hoping for justice running around the halls like ants. I think the authorities must focus on the 'real' problems which is plaguing the our court system.
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Without condoning what happened I think that the whole thing was blown out of proportion. Magistrate Peralta should be reprimanded at best but impeachment or forcing him to resign is way out if you ask me.
Does the whole incident hide an opportunistic hidden agenda to remove him? Possibly yes.
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Imma dan l-ewwel party tal-Milied li qatt sar il-Qorti ghall- dawn l-ahhar 50 sena? Ghax jekk le,l-ippokrezija hija vera grassa! U bil-haqq Jason Azzopardi miskin 4 minuti dam hemm: keelu stop watch!
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I think that as far as having the newsman kicked out, Magistrate Carol Peralta was within his rights. This was a private party and the newsman was not invited. The bad part is that Magistrate Peralta had no business whatsoever to hold a Party within the court house and especially within a court room. By doing this he crossed the line and he should resign or be impeached for causing the court such an embarrassment. Everybody knows that hard liquor and smoking are not allowed in the court house and yet this Magistrate took it upon himself to brake the law which he is obligated to uphold. The Commission has every right to invest this arrogant servant of the court. Nobody not even Magistrate Carol Peralta is above the law.
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If the Commission for the Administration of Justice finds that Magistrate Carol Peralta exceeded his powers and recommends an impeachment motion, I don't think that it will be necessary because if Magistrate Peralta is a man of honor and keeps to what he said earlier, he will resign from his post without the need for an impeachment from Parliament. Let's see what the outcome will be first.
