A Grave Miscarriage of Justice
This week I was involved in a court case which allowed me to witness a serious problem that led to justice not being served.
I don't frequently practise before the criminal courts, but this was a case where I was appearing for the victim. The Maltese law now allows the criminal court to award damages to the victim, based on the actual damage suffered.
In this case, I was dealing with a police inspector and we were working on the gathering of the evidence in order to charge the attacker in a street fight with grievous bodily harm. The parties had been involved in a scuffle after a near-miss vehicle incident, and the other party hit the victim who now stands to lose her front teeth.
Last week the case was due to be heard, and we discovered that another police inspector had already filed the case, got a quick hearing, and the defendant was granted an acquittal based on the lack of evidence in the case. The charge in the other case was for a less serious offence. However since he had been tried on the same facts (same incident, same time and same place), the court before which we appeared had no choice but to throw out the case. My client, the victim, was left with nothing. It was not only the compensation which is at hand here, but the fact that justice was not done.
In principle, justice must not only be done but must also be manifestly done. This was not the case here - due to some underhanded behaviour and a flaw in the procedure, the defendant was acquitted without the complaining party being even notified of the hearing or allowed to take a stand. Nobody gave evidence - none of the witnesses, the dentists involved, indeed the victim herself were notified of the hearing and given an opportunity to testify.
This serious matter must be addressed. Police inspectors who do not cooperate with victims can only shed bad light on the police force, and the honourable members of the force suffer with those who cause harm, because they are the target of public disapproval. There should exist in Maltese law for such blatantly wrong judgements - or judgements obtained by obstructing the course of justice - to be annulled, and for a retrial to be possible.
I don't frequently practise before the criminal courts, but this was a case where I was appearing for the victim. The Maltese law now allows the criminal court to award damages to the victim, based on the actual damage suffered.
In this case, I was dealing with a police inspector and we were working on the gathering of the evidence in order to charge the attacker in a street fight with grievous bodily harm. The parties had been involved in a scuffle after a near-miss vehicle incident, and the other party hit the victim who now stands to lose her front teeth.
Last week the case was due to be heard, and we discovered that another police inspector had already filed the case, got a quick hearing, and the defendant was granted an acquittal based on the lack of evidence in the case. The charge in the other case was for a less serious offence. However since he had been tried on the same facts (same incident, same time and same place), the court before which we appeared had no choice but to throw out the case. My client, the victim, was left with nothing. It was not only the compensation which is at hand here, but the fact that justice was not done.
In principle, justice must not only be done but must also be manifestly done. This was not the case here - due to some underhanded behaviour and a flaw in the procedure, the defendant was acquitted without the complaining party being even notified of the hearing or allowed to take a stand. Nobody gave evidence - none of the witnesses, the dentists involved, indeed the victim herself were notified of the hearing and given an opportunity to testify.
This serious matter must be addressed. Police inspectors who do not cooperate with victims can only shed bad light on the police force, and the honourable members of the force suffer with those who cause harm, because they are the target of public disapproval. There should exist in Maltese law for such blatantly wrong judgements - or judgements obtained by obstructing the course of justice - to be annulled, and for a retrial to be possible.
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