Ex-Director of Contracts wins Lm500 in libel damages

The Court of Appeal has ordered Simed's local representative Frank Farrugia to pay Lm500 in libel damages to the former Director General of Contracts, Joseph Spiteri.

Mr Justice Philip Sciberras, sitting in the appeal court, overturned a Magistrates' Court's judgment in which Mr Farrugia had been cleared of libel.

The case revolved around comments made by Mr Farrugia during the programme Minibus, broadcast on Smash Television on January 8, 2004.

Mr Farrugia had alleged that there had been irregularities when the tender for Mater Dei Hospital equipment had been awarded to Inso. Simed, the company represented by Mr Farrugia, had also made a bid for the tender.

During the programme, Mr Farrugia also said that Mr Spiteri had acted alone when he chose to include Inso in the tendering process.

On evaluating the case, the Magistrates' Court had concluded that Mr Farrugia's comments were fair. This was because he had based his claims on comments made by former Finance Minister John Dalli during a press conference held on December 31, 2003. Mr Dalli had presented members of the media with a document, consisting of a recommendation by the board of contracts to award the hospital contract to Inso. The document was signed by Mr Spiteri, as the director, and by the board's secretary. Mr Dalli had not signed that document.

However, Mr Farrugia did not take note of the fact that Mr Spiteri's signature represented the collective approval of the board.

The Magistrates' Court concluded that, although Mr Farrugia's comments were incorrect, they had been based on the information he had in hand at the time and, therefore, constituted fair comment. For this reason it cleared Mr Farrugia of libel.

Mr Spiteri took the case to the Court of Appeal where the judge disagreed with the conclusion reached by the magistrate.

"Fair comment does not extend to cover mis-statements of fact, however bona fide", the judge ruled. He ordered Mr Farrugia to pay Mr Spiteri Lm500 in libel damages.

Lawyers Aaron Mifsud Bonnici and Michael Sciriha appeared for Mr Spiteri.