Investigațiile magistraturii: termen de doi ani și un nivel mai ridicat de probă   

Requests first made to the police, then to a judge six months later.
Only evidence that is admissible in court can be used.
Inquiries will have a two-year deadline.
Victims of crime can ask for an update after six months.
Court experts must be individuals, not companies.
Chief Justice to approve expenses of over €50,000 on court experts.
A new bill presented today is set to revolutionise how citizens can request a magisterial inquiry, directing them to approach the police first, before filing a request with a judge six months later.The bill also says that only evidence that is admissible in court can be used to request an inquiry, while magistrates will have a two-year deadline to complete their work.Meanwhile, it will also introduce a spate of new changes in how court experts are appointed and managed.The current legal challenges available to people in cases where either the police or the Attorney General choose not to proceed with an inquiry will remain untouched.While a reform of Malta’s magisterial inquiries has been a long time coming, even featuring in Labour’s 2022 electoral manifesto, this reform picked up speed in recent weeks in response to a series of requests filed by former PN MP Jason Azzopardi.Government sources say that Malta’s new procedures will most closely resemble the model adopted in France.How can I request an inquiry?In practice, anyone wishing to have a magisterial inquiry into an alleged crime opened will be required to first file a sworn request with the police, who will have a six-month window to determine whether there are grounds for investigation and, if so, to carry out their investigation.If, after six months, the applicant is not satisfied with the police’s (in)actions, they can then take the matter to the criminal courts, asking a judge (rather than a magistrate, as is currently the case), for an inquiry to be opened.Together with their request, they must submit evidence that is admissible in court, effectively wiping out the use of inadmissible evidence such as second-hand accounts or hearsay.The courts will then proceed to summon the police to a closed hearing to question why they decided not to act upon the initial request.The courts will also have to summon the subjects of the inquiry and whoever filed the request in the first place, to hear both sides of the story.Government sources say the measures are intended to standardise procedures, doing away with current practice in which each magistrate operates in a slightly different manner.Two-year deadline, greater disclosureWhile the current law contains an oft-ignored provision saying that inquiries should be completed within 60 days, the new bill will extend this to six months.But magistrates will now have a hard two-year deadline to complete their work.Once the two years are up, the magistrate will have to send all the inquiry’s material to the Attorney General, whether the inquiry is ready or not.At that point, the AG can choose from an array o