MALTA
Malta Today
Matthew Agius 10 March 2015
One of the clerical sex abuse victims who, yesterday had a request to have their case heard by another judge, only to have that request denied by the same judge whom they were accusing of having a conflict of interest, will be filing a Constitutional case.
This morning, judge Joseph R. Micallef ruled their request would result in an abuse of the judicial process under the guise of protecting the right to a fair hearing, pointing out that the test of impartiality, even as interpreted by the European Court of Human Rights, requires an objective basis of verifiability.
In an exclusive account given to MaltaToday, a visibly distressed Lawrence Grech said he is certain that judge Joseph R. Micallef “had been against us since day one,” describing what he claimed to be an air of secrecy and intrigue surrounding the case.
“The Church had insisted that hearings be conducted behind closed doors as it would negatively affect children in Church care homes” said Grech. The ten plaintiffs had suggested that if public scandal was the issue, they could testify behind closed doors, but the Bishop and directors of St. Agatha testify in open court. The judge, he said, also refused this request.
“He was only interested in closing the case as quickly as possible and would often pass remarks to this effect, during sittings,” said Grech of the judge. This allegation could not be independently verified as the media and public had been barred from attending sittings, however.
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