A compensation court case filed by clerical sex abuse victims has been put on hold because they intend appealing the judge’s decision not to abstain from hearing the case.

The victims had asked Mr Justice Joseph Micallef to hand over the case to someone else because he had a conflict of interest, in light of his connection to Radju Marija, run by the Dominican-affiliated group, Kerygma Movement.

But in March, Mr Justice Micallef denied the request, insisting on continuing with proceedings, which concern the victims’ case for financial compensation against the Church in Malta and two priests defrocked from the Missionary Society of St Paul.

During a short hearing before Mr Justice Micallef yesterday, lawyers Patrick Valentino and Franco Vassallo asked for the case to be put on hold while they filed a request before the Constitutional Court challenging the judge’s decision. The victims are claiming that, as the president of the local Radio Maria Association, he could have a potential conflict.

The case for compensation started in October 2013, after former priests Godwin Scerri, 77, and Charles Pulis, 68, were found guilty and sentenced to five and six years’ imprisonment, respectively, for abusing 11 boys in their care at St Joseph Home in Santa Venera in the 1980s and 1990s.

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