Times of Malta yesterday filed a constitutional application claiming its right to freedom of expression was breached by two court judgments that found an investigative story to be libellous.
Editor-in-chief Steve Mallia and journalist Ariadne Massa filed the application, in the First Hall of the Civil Court in its constitutional jurisdiction, against the Attorney General, claiming a breach of rights under Malta’s Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights.
The issue revolves around an article, ‘Patients Swindled In Scam: Top MUMN Official Investigated’, published on the front page of The Sunday Times of Malta on August 22, 2010.
The article reported that a nurse and a salesman had swindled vulnerable patients out of hundreds of euros by offering therapy not provided by the State and leading them to believe it was free.
The court had elevated this mistake to an illegality
The article said that the nurse, who was not named, was “employed in a managerial position at Mater Dei Hospital and occupied a top post within the MUMN structures”. Four members of the nurses’ union executive – Paul Pace, Colin Galea, George Saliba and Maria Cutajar – filed libel proceedings, claiming the story defamed them.
In September 2012, the Magistrates’ Court found that the article was libellous and ordered Mr Mallia and Ms Massa to pay the four officials €11,500 in damages between them.
In January of this year, the appeals court reduced the damages to €4,000 after noting that comments made by the magistrate – that Ms Massa had colluded with health authorities when writing about a public hospital scam – had been “gratuitous”.
Yesterday, Mr Mallia and Ms Massa took their case a step further in their fight for freedom of expression.
They noted that the issue hinged on the interpretation of the word “top” to describe the official. The nurse in question headed a committee of nurses working at Mater Dei Hospital – the largest employer of nurses – and could not be described as a “medium” or “bottom” official.
Even if, for the sake of argument, it was conceded that the use of the word “top” was incorrect, the court had elevated this mistake to an illegality.
Freedom of expression was “the rule” protected under the Constitution. The limitation placed by the Press Act – that governed libel laws – was “the exception”.
The courts had allowed the exception to prevail, because it disagreed with the use of a word, and this amounted to a breach of freedom of expression.
Lawyers Stefan Frendo and Paul Micallef Grimaud signed the application.