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2012 Diary

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2012, March 18. After two weeks of relative calm, the New Southeast Crater of Etna has produced a new paroxysmal eruptive episode this morning, the 22nd such event in the series initiated in January 2011. As its predecessors, also this episode has been characterized by tall lava fountains, a tephra and vapor column several kilometers high (leading to ash and lapilli falls over the eastern sector of the volcano), and lava flows that descended into the Valle del Bove, locally interacting explosively with thick snow cover on the ground. The paroxysmal phase lasted less than two hours. (INGV-CT article)

2012, March 4. The third episode of lava fountaining in the year 2012 (the 21st since January 2011) at the New Southeast Crater of Etna occurred on the morning of 4 March 2012. This episode was preceded by 18 days of weak, intermittent Strombolian activity within the crater. The event was shorter (the paroxysmal phase lasted about 2 hours) and considerably more violent than its predecessor, on 9 February 2012. At the acme of the paroxysm, eruptive vents opened on the southwestern and northern flanks of the cone, from which lava flows were emitted that interacted violently with thick snow covering the ground. This explosive interaction and the heavy fallout onto the steep flanks of the cone generated pyroclastic flows that reached lenghts of a few hundred meters; furthermore the rapid melting of snow at the southern base of the cone led to the formation of a lahar (volcanic mud flow), which descended the western slope of the Valle del Bove. The paroxysmal phase lasted until about 09:30 GMT (= local time -1). Ash and lapilli falls affected the northeastern sector of Etna. (INGV-CT article)

2012, February 28. Points made about an article entitled “Uncaring justice blamed for jailed Somali’s plight” appearing on The Times.

This article highlights two issues:

1. That there is a corpus of legal knowledge which, though extant in the mind of a few lawyers, is unknown to the Press and laymen. There is plenty of ground on which the press and pressure groups can start pushing for citizens to be fairly treated as to their human rights, and it would not have to take age-long court cases and the forking out of hundreds of euro to "established" lawyers to lay down principles which though apparently obvious, fail to reach the cushy political and administrative echelons responsible for human rights.

2. If there are Constitutional Court judgments on the issue, why have they not been transposed into effective legislation regulating this matter? Like this issue, there are a plethora of other issues about which the Constitutional Court has pronounced itself but which have remained on some legislative or executive shelf in strict conformity with the tarnished principle of the "separation of powers". It was indeed discussed yesterday in a House Committee that it was about time these judgments were transposed, as far as possible, into legislation, but should we have reached a crisis point, like the Franco Debono saga, to arrive at such a delayed conclusion, if ever it will be enforced?

That is why it is right for the Press and pressure groups to be informed, and I opine it is the duty of all lawyers who have studied law at the State's expense, like myself, and whether in politics or not, to contribute to the legal welfare of the State.

2012, February 26. Points made about an article entitled “Somali is freed after five years without conviction Somali is freed after five years without conviction” appearing on The Sunday Times.

A very bad mix of prejudice and labyrinthine laws and procedure.

1. The police, as first prosecutors, throw the book at anyone involved on the scene of a not so clear-cut crime, shifting the investigative work onto the court which cannot do much but abide by the initial charge sheet presented by the police. They may do it to avoid holding persons under arrest beyond the legal time limit and so they act fast so that they would not have to release persons and allow them to pollute evidence. Even so, in this case, violence (a knife was brandished) might have ensued even after such temporary release. So it amounts to a matter of sudden shifting of responsibility, very much related to endemic problems of immediacy found in our systems.

2. With all due respect to colleague lawyers, the legal aid system does not carry much clout with the courts. Nor do fresh lawyers without a well-known name in legal/ criminal law circles. It boils down, believe it or not and most unfortunately, to a system of patronage within restricted inner circles where fame and old school connections count and where utter transparency is much in desire.

3. As to his former legal aid lawyer suggesting that he should file a guilty plea and get it over and done with, I wonder how such things could be done once plea bargaining is not provided for except in other circumstances. Was it conducted with the prosecution, and in that case was it the police inspector or the AG's office? Was the magistrate involved? What provisions of the Criminal Code were resorted to for such a measure? Might there be a hidden criminal praxis in our courts, untaught at the university and unwritten in our codes, which is only known to initiated criminal law practitioners who alone know the ropes how to safeguard their sacred turf?

4. Does the system of toing-and-froing from the AG's prosecutor's office to court, the conducting of prosecution by the police up to the time of trial, and a court which appears to be dealing with a case but has actually lost its powers, or some of them, to a hidden AG prosecution office, actually help to arrive at a fair pre-trial system for the accused? Does the marrying of a British and Italian system of criminal justice, as found in our Criminal Code, which can be seen in the language used in both English and Maltese versions, still hold when patching up takes place, sometimes with different continental/ US systems which do not really fit the original fabric?

5. As to lawyer's fees in criminal law matters, why has no Minister of Justice, of whatever administration, thought of regulating them in the knowledge by one and all that often, exorbitant fees are requested by established, inner circle lawyers? Is it not often recounted that certain criminals, out on bail or on some other modern day suspension system, commit further crimes of the same nature to get the money to pay their lawyers with?

Why not take the Justice bull by the horns and delve deep into what is causing all the inertia in the legal, procedural, social and reformative fields? There is much to be done if only we are not made to think any longer that all is well in the justice system in Malta. Would a lay (non legal) justice minister one day help in putting things right, or would it be enough were people in power to be loyal to their positions, speak out and contribute towards adjusting the system?

2012, February 9. After more than 12 days of mild Strombolian activity, Etna's New Southeast Crater has produced a new paroxysmal eruptive episode on the early morning of 9 February 2012: This event was less violent than its predecessors, but lasted more than 5 hours. A lava flow descended toward the Valle del Bove, stagnating before it reached the valley floor. (INGV-CT article)

2012, January 5. During the early morning hours today, the New Southeast Crater of Etna has produced a new paroxysmal eruptive episode, following a period of quiescence of 50 days (the previous episode had occurred on 15 November 2011). This event, which had been preceded by many hours of weak Strombolian explosions within the crater, has repeated in most details its predecessors (i.e., lava fountains from multiple vents within the crater and on its southeastern and northern flanks, emission of lava flows toward southeast and northeast, generation of an ash and vapor column several km tall). Furthermore, the heavy fallout of pyroclastic material onto the flanks of the cone led to the formation of small pyroclastic flows, which invaded snow-covered terrain, provoking violent explosive interactions. Ash and lapilli falls affected mainly the southern flank of the volcano. (INGV-CT article)

2012, January 1. Point made about an article entitled “Year the backbenchers shook up Parliament” appearing on The Times.

Just as in another story it has been reported that elections in Malta cause heart problems, the more so I think that two further behavioural studies should also be conducted at an academic level on the present state of the administration following the 2008 elections and the citizens’ reaction to the events leading to a PN “victory”.

I opine that the problem is not one of a close result, but of an election which has gone politically incorrect during the last week of electioneering and has landed Malta with a very dubious result, but for numbers, and the resignation of a party leader. Present-day government supporters and government members themselves, even if no one admits it, are living in a chimera of truth about the nature of the present administration and the whole situation must be subconsciously affecting the whole national attitude.

The first suggested study would be a psychological review whether the backbenchers’ reactions are being caused by a collective subconscious repulsion of the present government as a result of an unfairness meted out during the last week of electioneering. To put it mildly, no one’s conscience is at rest, neither on the Government’s side nor on the Opposition’s, so much so that an appeasing offering was made in the form of a President of the Republic coming from the opposite camp of the political spectrum to make up for events. Yet the thought still wavers on in people’s minds about the fairness of the present administration and the remedy to be found to extend the definition of “corrupt practice” beyond mere Church influence.

The second study would be a sociological one and concentrate on whether the first collective subconscious thought is heavily influencing the behaviour of backbenchers when they evidence a hierarchical split between cabinet and other “favoured” members, and themselves. Class has always been the bane of the PN and backbenchers are becoming very much aware of it, given the principle that “some are more equal than others... until election time arrives”.

With all this suppressed collective subconscious around, nothing could be more evident than a clear truth deficit in our political and constitutional system which needs urgent patching up before the next election. Otherwise there will be a time when the people’s will and expression cannot be suppressed any longer either politely or diplomatically as is being done right now.