An appeals court has ruled that it has no jurisdiction to decide an appeal filed by surgeon Frank Potelli against the Medical Council after he was fined €10,000 by the council over a letter he had written to consultant Louis Buhagiar when he was suspended from St Philip's Hospital.

The council had warned Dr Portelli that failure to pay the fine would lead to him being struck off the Medfical Register.

Dr Buhagiar has protested that the letter was slanderous and undermined his credibility in the medical profession.

Dr Portelli had argued that he had written to Dr Buhagiar in his capacity as administrator of St Philip's Hospital.

The court said that the right for appeal before the court only existed in cases of strike-offs from the Medical register.

The court said there were other legal remedies which Dr Portelli could seek.