The police are to challenge a court decree through which former commissioner Peter Paul Zammit was listed as an “injured party” in a criminal case against a man recently charged with threatening police officers in 2013.

Through this decree, Mr Zammit – who during his time as commissioner had originally ordered the charges to be dropped – was allowed to question the prosecuting officer, mainly on who had ordered the charges to be issued after he left the post.

The law says that any person claiming to be an “injured party” may apply to the court to be admitted into the proceedings.

If the request is accepted, the person has the right to be present at all hearings.

The police have now said they will be mounting a legal challenge against the decree. Their legal advice was that Mr Zammit did not have a legal right to appear ex parte in the proceedings.

It is up to the court to decide if the injured party is the person who was the victim

“The prosecuting officer will be requesting the presiding Magistrate to change its decree,” the police told this newspaper.

Lawyers who spoke to Times of Malta, but preferred to remain anonymous, questioned the decree. They said that by law Mr Zammit could only have been granted such a status if he had been appointed to represent the police force.

“In this case such a provision could only apply to the officers stationed at the Żabbar police station as they were the ones who were allegedly at the receiving end of the abuse.”

Asked for his reaction, Mr Zammit said the police had every right to appeal but he argued that the injured party did not necessarily need to be the alleged victim of a crime.

“It is up to the court to decide if the injured party is the person who was the victim of the action committed by the accused or if it was any person who feels aggrieved by the incident.”

Mr Zammit pointed out that last month the hunters’ federation (FKNK) appeared parte civile in the case which led to the premature closure of the spring hunting season.

“In that case the court accepted the FKNK as an injured party, even though the case concerned a hunter who had shot a kestrel.

“It is quite interesting how the police in my case decided to appeal.”

Mr Zammit, a legal procurator, had sprung a surprise in court two weeks ago when he turned up during proceedings against Josmar Agius, 44, from Marsaxlokk.

Mr Agius is pleading not guilty to threatening and insulting four police officers and preventing them from carrying out their duties at the Żabbar police station in June 2013.

Following that incident, then commissioner Mr Zammit decided to drop the charges his officers were preparing against Mr Agius.

An inquiry into the matter was carried out after a new police commissioner was appointed and it found Mr Zammit’s decision to have been arbitrary and lacking justification.

It transpired that Mr Agius had been Mr Zammit’s client before the latter was appointed police commissioner in April 2013.

After his departure, the police decided to resume action against Mr Agius.