The Constitutional Court has allowed the Nationalist Party to correct an appeal which it had filed before the court following a decision of the First Hall of the Civil Court earlier this year regarding the 2013 electoral result.

The case was first instituted in March 2013 against the Electoral Commission. The PN claiming that irregularities had occurred in the general election counting process in the 8th and 13th electoral districts.  The Attorney General and the PL together with candidates Edward Scicluna, Joe Debono Grech, Justyne Caruana and Edwin Vassallo (PN) were called into the suit.

The First Hall of the Civil Court had ruled on February 5 2015 and an appeal was lodged before the Constitutional Court which, in turn, annulled the judgment and ordered that the case be remitted to the first court to be heard again.  The original judge had abstained from hearing the case and it was assigned to another judge who delivered her judgment on May 26 of this year.

Four appeals from the May 26 judgment were lodged principally by the Attorney General and the other defendants, while the PN filed four replies and four incidental appeals.

In each of its incidental appeals the PN referred to the original judgment of February 5 2015 and not to the May 26 judgment.  The PN therefore requested the Constitutional Court to allow it to amend its appeals.

In today's judgment the Constitutional Court, presided over by Chief Justice Silvio Camilleri and judges Giannino Caruana Demajo and Noel Cuschieri, ruled that it was clear that the appeals of the PN had referred to the May 26 judgment and that it was in error that the appeals had made a final reference to the judgment of February 5 2015.

The requested amendment, said the court, fell within the parameters of the law and that the amendment could therefore be allowed.

The court ordered the correction to take place and that the corrected documents be served upon all the parties to the suit.