The magistrates’ court has clearly stated that Times of Malta journalist Ivan Martin had rejected money offered to him during a meeting with two of Yorgen Fenech’s lawyers. Magistrate Natasha Galea Sciberras went to great lengths in her judgment to explain that her hands were tied. It’s our words, not hers. The case as it unfolded during the compilation of evidence and in line with the charges against lawyers Gianluca Caruana Curran and Charles Mercieca, she pointed out, involved active bribery. However, in her note laying down the terms on which the court must pass judgment, Attorney General Victoria Buttigieg spoke of passive bribery in the private sector. Passive bribery, the magistrate pointed out, was an offence that could only have been committed by the journalist himself but, in this case, he had firmly turned down the offer. By law, the police have four working days within which to inform the court they would like to appeal. The court would then send the records of the case to the attorney general who has the final say on whether to appeal or not. That is the legal part of the case but there is also an ethical side. This is where the Chamber of Advocates and the...