Mr Justice Joseph R Micallef will continue to preside a case filed by victims of clerical sex abuse at Dar San Guzepp in the late 1980s, who are seeking compensation from the Church. The victims had questioned the Judge's impartiality on grounds that he presides the Radju Marija Foundation, which they claimed had strong links with the Ecclesiastical Authorities. However, Mr Justice Micallef had turned down their request to stop hearing the case, forcing the plaintiffs to file an application before another court. In a judgment this morning, Mr Justice Mark Chetcuti rejected the victim's request saying that their fundamental right to a fair hearing had not been breached. In July 2011, Charles Pulis and Godwin Scerri, both members of the Missionary Society of St Paul's, were sentenced to six and five years' imprisonment respectively for sexually abusing 11 boys in their care at St Joseph's Home in Sta Venera in the late 1980s. The sentence had been confirmed on appeal in November 2012. In his decision, Mr Justice Chetcuti pointed out that the assignment of cases was not the prerogative of judges but was done through a proper mechanism supervised by the court registrar, with no...
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