Court denies constitutional challenge in drug case

The Constitutional Court has dismissed Terence Cini's appeal, which challenged the legal framework preventing the conversion of his criminal trial into drug court proceedings due to the severity of his charges.

On 16 December 2024, the Constitutional Court delivered a judgment rejecting Terence Cini's constitutional appeal. Cini, charged with trafficking and possessing 1,006 ecstasy pills in 2011, had claimed his right to a fair trial was breached under Maltese and European human rights laws. His appeal focused on the inability to convert his trial to a drug court case, as his alleged offences carried a penalty exceeding seven years of imprisonment.

Cini also argued that his fundamental rights were violated because the drugs presented as evidence were improperly stored and analysed in a non-accredited laboratory by an unaccredited scientist. He contended that this undermined the reliability of the evidence and compromised his right to a fair trial.

The court, presided by Judge Ian Spiteri Bailey, observed that Cini had ample opportunities to challenge the evidence during the preliminary stages of his criminal proceedings but failed to do so. The Court’s judgment highlighted that issues of evidence admissibility should be raised in the appropriate criminal court, not through extraordinary constitutional proceedings.

Furthermore, the Court dismissed the claim that the lack of laboratory accreditation automatically rendered the evidence inadmissible.

Ultimately, the court ruled that Cini’s claims were either untimely or lacked merit. It reaffirmed that the rights to a fair hearing under the Maltese Constitution and of the European Convention of Human Rights were not violated. The court emphasised that procedural safeguards in criminal proceedings remain intact and sufficient to ensure justice.

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