President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, members of her secretariat and organisers of the ill-fated 2015 Paqpaqli motorshow, mostly volunteers, are facing six lawsuits for claims of damages by victims of the incident.
The lawsuits were filed after President Coleiro Preca refused to accept any blame or responsibility for the incident, with victims having filed judicial letters requesting damages earlier this year.
Lawyers for the victims have now asked Judge Lawrence Mintoff to first rule on who was responsible for the incident before quantifying damages due to the victims, according to the degree of injuries suffered.
To speed up procedures, lawyers have also asked the courts to consolidate testimonies from all six cases, to avoid having to call witnesses six different times for evidence.
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However, lawyers for the Office of the President have objected and said that since victims have filed six separate lawsuits, all cases should be treated separately.
In October 2015, 23 people were injured when a supercar driven at high speeds veered off a Ħal Far track and crashed into spectators at a Malta Community Chest Fund Foundation event. Some of those hurt are still undergoing treatment today.
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A magisterial inquiry had put the onus of the blame on Paul Bailey – the man behind the wheel – saying he was not “a professional driver” and that the crash was due to Mr Bailey driving at excessive speed and without the correct handling techniques. The inquiry had also concluded that there were no mechanical failures with the car.
Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera had exonerated President Coleiro Preca from any responsibility - despite the fact that she was the head of the organising committee - as she found that the President was in no way involved in the organisation or preparatory meetings of the event.
In the meantime, the police started criminal procedures against organising committee members and Mr Bailey.
The magistrate's conclusions were vehemently criticised by the 11 members of the organising committee – all volunteers.
President Coleiro Preca is also facing court action by the volunteers, who are in turn being sued by crash victims.
Volunteers say the President has left them out in the cold to face the consequences of the accident.
“We feel aggravated by the fact that after responding to a personal request by the President to give our time and energy to raise funds, we ended up being sacrificed to protect those who really should have assumed responsibility for this unfortunate situation,” they told the Times of Malta.
Referring to the report on the inquiry which exonerated President Coleiro Preca, the volunteers said that “in the same report there are minutes of a number of meetings where the President was present and participating with volunteers”.