The former head of the faculty of Pharmacy at the University has been awarded almost €250,000 in damages for not being reinstated to his post following the doctors' strike in 1977.
Mr Justice Silvio Meli, presiding over the First Hall of the Civil Court, delivered this judgment following an action filed in 1992 by Prof. Anthony P Jaccarini and the Medical Association of Malta (MAM) against former Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami, former ministers Louis Galea and Ugo Mifsud Bonnici and former University Rector, the late Prof. Peter Serracino Inglott.
In 1977 MAM had called for partial industrial action on the part of doctors. At the time Prof. Jaccarini was Professor of Pharmacy and was head of the University Pharmacy Department and a full time University employee.
As a result of the strike action, Prof. Jaccarini had resigned from his University post and had obtained employment overseas.
But following the change of government in 1987, an agreement was reached with MAM in terms of which those who had been dismissed from work or had lost their jobs as a result of the protracted industrial action were to be reinstated. This agreement was also applicable to the university.
In fact, other university professors had been reinstated following the agreement, but Prof Jaccarini had not, even though he had fulfilled all the criteria required by the agreement.
Prof. Jaccarini's post was filled by Prof Anthony Serracino Inglott.
Mr Justice Meli said that Prof. Jaccarini had returned to Malta as a result of the agreement and had expected to be reinstated, but this had not been the case even though his name had been included in the list of those who were to be reinstated. This list had mysteriously disappeared, said the court, but its existence had been confirmed by reliable witnesses.
The court added that Prof. Jaccarini had been verbally assured by the authorities that he would benefit from the agreement.
The government ministers had pleaded that they could not reinstate Prof. Jaccarini as this would be in contravention of the Education Act.
The uUniversity representative, however, said that the government was bound to act on the decisions of the university council.
Mr Justice Meli said that defendants had impeded Prof. Jaccarini from benefitting from his rights in terms of the agreement reached between the government and MAM. This contrasted with the treatment meted out to others whose path to reintegration at the university had been smoothed.
In liquidating the damages suffered by Prof. Jaccarini, the court said that he had been subjected to psychological trauma and that this would be taken into consideration.
The court stated that Prof. Jaccarini ought to have been reinstated in January 1988 and that he would have retired from the university post in September 1997 when he reached pensionable age.
The loss of income Prof. Jaccarini had suffered over the years amounted to €223,043.97 to which sum the court added €20,000 being damages for the trauma he had sustained.
The defendants were ordered to pay Prof. Jaccarini €243,043.97.