Equal justice for all… except foreigners

A group of 50 foreign inmates at Corradino prison has written an impassioned open letter to claim systemic discrimination against non-Maltese suspects throughout the judicial process.

Among numerous other charges, the group claims that “it is impossible” for non-Maltese defendants to be granted bail. (Note: claims of degrading and inhumane conditions in prison have been dealt with separately).

“The Maltese can remain out on bail for up to 10 years, while living their life and taking care of their family,” the inmates’ letter claims. “But the accused non-Maltese is thrown into jail automatically with little or no information about his detention, and left to rot in limbo until the police decide to bring the case to trial many years later.”

According to their claims, foreign persons under arrest can wait up to four years before commencement of their trial. “Those pleading guilty are still detained up to three years or more without sentence.”

Nearly all the 49 signatories of this letter are currently sentences for drug trafficking.

Discrimination or due process?

The above marks just the beginning of a series of allegations of stark discrimination against non-Maltese suspects at all stages of the criminal justice process.

“For non-Maltese, the fundamental right of being innocent until proven guilty does not exist,” they claim. ‘Due and impartial judicial process’ does not exist either: “The police and some of the Maltese magistrates are always conniving to pervert the cause of justice when the accused is non-Maltese.’

Apart from the routine denial of bail to foreigners, instances of claimed discrimination also include lengthy delays in the judicial process itself.

“Getting to the trial after many years of invented delay tactics and manipulation of judicial procedures, so that the Maltese jury will only have to rubberstamp the police version of events, is the standard practice of Maltese justice against non-Maltese.

“It is not surprising that the police always win about 99.5% of their jury cases against non-Maltese defendants.”

Lethargic lawyers

The impression among foreign Corradino residents is that Maltese lawyers are generally uninterested in challenging the status quo.

“The longer the case, the more money the defence lawyers demand their non-native clients,” they observe. “Their official philosophy is ‘win or lose, we still get paid’.”

In keeping with the same theme, they also comment on the general paucity of the ‘legal aid’ scheme currently in place to assist the financially under-privileged.

“The fact is that in a country of over 440,000 people, there are only about five lawyers willing to represent those accused who cannot afford a paid private lawyer.”

The same consideration is brought up separately with regard to a standard feature in drug-related offences.

“In addition to lengthy and inhumane sentences given to drug couriers and non-violent first offenders, an average fine of €300,000 is also always imposed on these unfortunate non-Maltese prisoners. The ability to pay is never considered. Failing to pay the fine, another 18 calendar months are automatically added to the already lengthy sentence.

Conditions of bail

Addressing some of these complaints, criminal lawyer Franco Debono (also a government MP) concedes that foreigners are generally less likely to be granted bail than their Maltese counterparts.

Franco Debono

But this, he argues, this does not add up to active discrimination against foreigners. Pointing out that bail conditions are determined by articles 574 and 575 of the Laws of Malta, he argues that – in theory at least – the same provisions apply equally to all defendants, regardless of nationality.

“The court is legally obliged to examine a number of possibilities, including the chances of the suspect absconding, the danger that he or she may commit serious crimes, and the possibility of approaching and influencing witnesses.”

In practice, however, the fear of absconding is automatically greater with foreign suspects, whose connections to Malta – family, work, etc. – are usually less intimate than those of locals.

It is also demonstrable that the prosecution tends to object to bail requests more frequently when the suspect happens to be foreign.

“Having said this, the danger of a criminal escaping justice by fleeing abroad is by no means limited to foreigners. Maltese suspects charged with murder, for example, might also be tempted to flee the country to avoid a life sentence.”

Debono further argues that this danger is to an extent mitigated by international co-operation between different police forces, and in particular by Interpol.

“If an absconded suspect is later arrested in, say, France, it would be possible to extradite him Malta.”

Technically this should make bail more readily available in all but the most serious cases. But in practice, it is still often withheld.

“One area where the system could certainly be improved is if the prosecution would be obliged to substantiate the fear of absconding when objecting to bail on those grounds,” Debono adds.

(Note: Franco Debono, who has previously spoken out in favour of a reform of police interrogation procedure, was not asked to comment about claims regarding lawyers and their attitudes to foreign clients).