A court has ruled that the Broadcasting Authority could not accuse a company and then judge the case because this violates the fundamental principle of natural justice.

The judgement, delivered by Mr Justice Raymond Pace, was this afternoon hailed as historic by Emy Bezzina, the lawyer who represented Smash Communications Ltd, the broadcasting company which filed the case against the BA and its chief executive Kevin Aquilina.

In a short statement, the BA said it was premature for it to comment as it was appealing the judgement.

The case goes back to 2004 when Dr Aquilina claimed that Smash's programme "Minibus" had carried extensive advertising and fined Smash Lm400.

Smash had appealed the fine with the BA which confirmed the fine.

This, said Smash, was in violation of the fundamental principle of natural justice, that no one could be a judge in his own case.

The BA, said Smash, was acting as both prosecutor and judge when it had ruled to impose a fine of Lm400 on the broadcasting company.

The court found that the BA's chief executive, who was an employee and delegate of the authority, could not be considered an independent prosecutor of a complaint against a company which would then be decided by the BA itself.

The principle of natural justice was therefore violated for one could not see that justice had been done.

The court annulled the fine.

Dr Bezzina said the court reaffirmed an important justice principle that the same entity could not act as judge and prosecutor. It created a legal precedent in that it could lead to other associations and organisations that worked with the same structures to have to revise such structures.

He gave the example of the police force where the Commissioner wasalso the chairman of the Police Association.