A legal loophole relating to unrecoverable expenses through the employment of court experts has been flagged by a Magistrate's court, with a copy of the judgment ordered to be sent to relevant local authorities.
The anomaly has resulted in significant loss for state coffers, Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech who delivered the judgment stressed.
The case goes back to June 2014 and relates to allegedly stolen electricity at a pizza-place in Fgura. Redent Zammit, 45, was charged with bribery of public officials, unlawful exaction and embezzlement of public funds. He was ultimately cleared of all charges.
The court heard how allegedly, a stranger entered into Zammit's shop and while speaking with the accused, asked him whether he would be interested in having his electricity bills reduced.
Zammit is said to have handed over the stranger roughly €1,000, who then passed got an Enemalta employee to install a new meter at the premises. The new metre led to Zammit's bills being drastically reduced.
It was revealed that the middleman who approached Zammit was a man named Martin Cilia La Corte, and the man who installed the metre was Paul Pantalleresco, a former Enemalta employee.
A court-appointed expert confirmed that the new metre was installed in such a way as to give a sero reading.
After hearing all relevant evidence to the case, Frendo Dimech ruled that the prosecution failed to prove satisfactorily that the accused was guilty of bribery, unlawful exaction and embezzlement.
Turning to the first charge of electricity theft, the court could not acknowledge this due to the complaint being withdrawn by Enemalta upon settlement of the sum owed by the accused.
She stressed the high expenditure that the Court administration incurs through the appointment of court experts, and that once a complaint is withdrawn, the court cannot recover expenses related to court experts.
Frendo Dimech commented that in this case it is the Court Registar who is the injured party.
By law, these expenses can only be recovered when a case results in conviction or when the police institute proceedings without a complaint being filed by an injured party.
Zammit was acquitted and ordered and a notification of the judgment was ordered to be sent to the Justice Minister, the Attorney General and the Court Registrar in order to address the existing loophole.
from The Malta Independent http://ift.tt/2iimxY8
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