Judgment declared null

A Magistrates' Court's judgment was declared null after an appeal court ruled that the first court had failed to ask the defendant whether he objected to his case being dealt with summarily, as was prescribed by law.

In a judgment handed down by the Magistrates' Court, Victor Buttigieg, 31, of Naxxar had been fined Lm400 for assaulting the police and using indecent language in public on September 25, 1999.

But Mr Justice Joseph Galea Debono, who presided over the appeal, ruled that since the magistrate had not asked Buttigieg whether he objected to his case being tried summarily, it followed that judgment did not fall within the competence of the first court.

The judge declared the proceedings null and sent the court documents back to the Magistrates' Court.