A libel action filed by the hunters' federation against a student newspaper was dismissed yesterday after a court ruled that the organisation did not have the legal interest to file the action.

The federation's officials Joseph Buttigieg and Lino Farrugia, respectively the president and secretary, had claimed they were libelled by an article and cartoon published in the newspaper Ir-Realta in May 2007.

The cartoon, which showed a skull with two bloodied shotguns crossed beneath it, was accompanied by an article which said that hunters had vandalised bus stops in Qrendi and the Għadira nature reserve. The article also accused hunters of arrogance and said society needed to respond to their violence.

The editor of the newspaper, Mark Camilleri, insisted that Mr Buttigieg and Mr Farrugia did not have a legal interest to file the case adding that the article and its accompanying cartoon were not libellous but consisted of fair comment.

The court noted that Mr Buttigieg and Mr Farrugia were not acting in their personal capacities but as president and secretary of the federation, pointing out that as a result, the court had to examine whether the federation had a legal interest in pursuing this action.

An organisation, such as the federation, could not be libelled, for the purpose of libel law was to protect the reputation of an individual.

Magistrate Silvio Meli, therefore, upheld Mr Camilleri's plea and found that Mr Buttigieg and Mr Farrugia had no legal interest to file this action.