Partial victory for Simon Busuttil as Panama Appeals saga continues

A judge presiding over the constitutional case linked to the Panama Appeals saga on Tuesday handed a partial victory to former Opposition leader Simon Busuttil by upholding arguments that several documents, deemed as ‘beyond essential’ are to be admitted as evidence. The issue constituted the crux of a decision delivered by Mr Justice Joseph Zammit McKeon in the constitutional case filed by Dr  Busuttil, claiming that Mr Justice Antonio Mizzi’s decision to continue to preside over the Panama appeals would render him a “victim” by violating his right to a fair hearing. Some of the respondents’ lawyers had objected to various documents produced in evidence in this constitutional suit, including a transcript in which Mr Justice Mizzi “had declared several times in open court that an argument for his recusal was ‘highly annoying’”. Other documents targeted for removal were two decrees delivered by inquiry magistrate Aaron Bugeja, as well as media coverage of speeches delivered by Mrs Mizzi in the European Parliament wherein she had expressed her views on the Panama Papers scandal. On Tuesday, however, Mr Justice Zammit McKeon threw out the arguments of the respondents declaring...