A man has been ordered to pay more than €800 in damages after a court ruled that he had maliciously caused criminal proceedings to be filed against another man.

The court heard Fr Karm Busuttil claim that Anthony Caruana had caused criminal proceedings to be filed against him even though no reason existed for such prosecution.

Fr Busuttil had been acquitted by the Magistrates' Court in July 1997 and he asked the court to order Mr Caruana to pay damages to cover fees that he (Fr Busuttil) had paid lawyers to conduct his defence.

Magistrate Gabriella Vella heard that the police had charged Fr Busuttil with making a false declaration in respect of his identity card when he had stated that he lived in Zabbar. 

The police had taken action against Fr Busuttil as a result of a complaint filed by Guditta Bonnici, Mr Caruana's grandmother, who had since passed away.

The court pointed out that Mr Caruana held a power of attorney for Mrs Bonnici.

The case concerned a family dispute about rights to a property, which Mrs Bonnici claimed that she had rights over. 

This property had been owned by a certain Carmela Sammut and Maria Assunta Bonnici, both of whom granted possession of the property to Fr Busuttil and the latter had registered himself as residing there.

Guditta Bonnici had a claim in respect of this property on the basis that she was an heir of Maria Assunta Bonnici and she had filed civil action against Fr Busuttil requesting that he be evicted. 

At the same time, she made a formal complaint to the police against Fr Busuttil on the basis that he had made a false declaration when he stated, on his identity card, that he resided there.

Although Mr Caruana claimed that it was his grandmother, acting on the advice of her lawyer who had filed the police complaint, it resulted from Mr Caruana's own testimony that he had instigated the criminal proceedings to obtain possession of the Zabbar property.

The court found in favour of Fr Busuttil and ordered Mr Caruana to pay him €885.16 - the legal fees Fr Busuttil paid for his defence in the proceedings.