Claims made in affidavit are privileged, court rules

Claims made in an affidavit, that was filed as part of a court case, were privileged, a magistrate has ruled.

This means that one could not initiate defamation proceedings over comments made in such a context.

Magistrate Lawrence Quintano came to this conclusion while handing down judgment against Maria Vella who had been charged with defaming George Mifsud in an affidavit made on October 21, 2004.

The magistrate heard how Ms Vella had filed an affidavit in a court case that revolved around the construction of a room by Mr Mifsud.

Ms Vella claimed the room had been built illegally but Mr Mifsud insisted that he had all the permits.

In her affidavit, Ms Vella said she had been told that Mr Mifsud had problems with the law. But, Mr Mifsud produced his criminal record to show he never had any such problems.

After hearing the evidence and evaluating the case, as well as case law, the magistrate ruled that what Ms Vella said in the affidavit was privileged.

"If whoever testifies in court fears that action will be taken against them for defamation, then one would not be able to tell the truth," the magistrate said adding that this was even more relevant in the case of Malta as the law stated that one could defame another person by telling the truth.

"The court concludes that the content of the affidavit is privileged and one cannot take action against another for defamation once the words were uttered in court and there were no bad intentions," Magistrate Quintano ruled.

He therefore cleared Ms Vella of the charge.

Police Inspector Mario Bonello prosecuted.