The Court of Appeal yesterday upheld an appeal filed by Gollcher Co Ltd and declared that the company was not responsible for the injury suffered by a stevedore at Crucifix Wharf.
Stevedore Philip Camilleri had filed his case in the First Hall of the Civil Court against Gollcher and also against the Malta Maritime Authority.
Mr Camilleri said that he was engaged to load and unload containers or trailers on or off a ship for which Gollcher was the shipping agent.
On April 3, 2000, he had been injured in an accident at the wharf, and he requested the first court to find Gollcher and the MMA liable in damages.
The first court had found that responsibility for the accident lay with all three parties to the case, and it ruled that Gollcher and the MMA were each responsible for one-third.
Gollcher appealed to the Court of Appeal composed of Chief Justice Vincent Degaetano, Mr Justice Joseph D. Camilleri and Mr Justice Joseph A. Filletti.
On appeal the court noted that the MMA had not filed any pleas of submissions in the proceedings before the first court nor before the Court of Appeal.
Gollcher submitted that it could not be held responsible for the accident, for it had not done anything incorrect.
Furthermore, the company submitted that it had been sued as Gollcher Co Ltd and not as the representative of the ship's owners.
Gollcher further submitted that no evidence had been produced to show that Mr Camilleri had not been provided with a safe place of work.
The Court of Appeal pointed out that it could not understand how the first court had concluded that there were some defects in the work environment, for only scanty evidence had been produced.
It was the ship's owner, and not the shipping agent, who had to ensure that the ship was clean and safe to work on.
In this case, Gollcher had been sued personally, and not as the representative of the ship's owners. Gollcher had not entered into any contractual relationship with Mr Camilleri, or with his colleagues.
The Court of Appeal overturned that part of the judgment of the first court which had found Gollcher one-third responsible for the accident.
The court remitted the case to the First Hall of the Civil Court for continuation.