The Criminal Court of Appeal today acquitted John Zammit of libelling Labour MP Joe Mizzi when he wrote about him in May 2009.

In a judgement given in May last year, Mr Zammit had been found guilty of libelling Mr Mizzi and was fined €1,000.

Mr Zammit had questioned how Mr Mizzi's residence, in a government housing estate, was one storey higher than the other residences. He had said that public spaces had been taken up with plants owned by Mr Mizzi and that Mr Mizzi was mayor Michael Cohen's cousin.

In his considerations, Judge Michael Mallia said the court believed that the personal life of a public figure could be commented upon and criticised if this life was visible from the outside.

One could not, however impinging on the personal and intimate life of the same public person, as long as this did not directly or negatively affect this person's public function.

So when a public person's residence in a government housing estate could be seen to be different from the others, this was no longer a private matter and everyone had the right to give an opinion on the how and why of that situation. One also had a right to ask questions about the legitimacy of that acquisition.

The same could be said for the plants placed in public environment which may have bothered some people.

Mr Justice Mallia said that there was also nothing wrong in criticising Mr Mizzi's relationship with the mayor.