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Maltese Investigative Journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was subject to a staggering number of legal challenges before she was assassinated in 2017
As a prelude to Nicola Driscoll-Davies new series JUSTICE FOR DAPHNE, here is a list of the judgments in cases against Daphne Caruana Galizia courtesy of Corinne Vella, Daphne’s sister.
Background
Maltese public figures are not averse to using Malta’s criminal defamation law to silence their critics. The procedure has no direct or personal cost to the person filing a report but is time consuming and financially costly to the defendant. This enables people in power to persecute and harass their critics using the powers of the state.
When a new draft Media and Defamation Act was announced in early 2017, one of the provisions was to repeal criminal libel with the exception of pending criminal cases. In effect, this meant that criminal defamation law would be selectively applied to cases against Daphne Caruana Galizia and others even when it was repealed for everyone else.
When Daphne Caruana Galizia died, there were 47 libel suits pending against her – 42 in the civil courts, and five in the criminal courts. Most of the pending cases were filed since the current government came to power in March 2013. At least 77% of the pending cases were filed by Labour Party donors and officials, including Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, Minister Konrad Mizzi, Minister Chris Cardona, and the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff Keith Schembri. Of the other cases, 5 were filed by the current Opposition Leader Adrian Delia and 3 by ultra-right wing fascists. Overall, 95% of the cases were filed by men who are powerful, wealthy, or both.
The women who filed cases against Daphne Caruana Galizia are: Sai Mizzi, Minister Konrad Mizzi’s wife and the beneficiary of Rotorua Trust in New Zealand, exposed in the Panama Papers; Lindsey Gambin, Minister Konrad Mizzi’s assistant; Julia Farrugia, Parliamentary Secretary for Reforms in the Office of the Prime Minister; and Phyllis Muscat, a friend of Joseph Muscat and Keith Schembri, who was appointed head of the 2015 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) task force.
One Labour Party donor and government backer, Silvio Debono, filed 19 libel suits for a single story about an opaque government land deal.
Apart from time and energy, responding to libel cases involves punitive court fees and legal fees before a verdict is even reached. There is no evidence threshold to filing a case for libel.
Daphne Caruana Galizia’s family continues to fight her outstanding cases except for a handful that were withdrawn by the plaintiffs after she was killed. 29 civil libel suits are still pending.
Judgments in Criminal Cases against Daphne Caruana Galizia
| Judgment Date | Reference Number | Court | Parties |
| 16/11/2016 | 1/2015 | Of Magistrates (Criminal Judicature) | The Police vs Caruana Galizia Daphne Anne |
| 16/11/2016 | 2/2015 | Of Magistrates (Criminal Judicature) | The Police vs Caruana Galizia Daphne Anne |
| 16/11/2016 | 4/2015 | Of Criminal Appeal (Inferior) | The Police vs Caruana Galizia Daphne Anne |
| 30/06/2016 | 333/2012 | Of Magistrates (Criminal Judicature) | The Police vs Caruana Galizia Daphne Anne |
| 19/10/2015 | 6/2011 | Of Magistrates (Criminal Judicature) | The Police vs Caruana Galizia Daphne Anne |
| 11/06/2012 | 588/2010 | Of Magistrates (Criminal Judicature) | The Police vs Caruana Galizia Daphne Anne |
| 20/05/2011 | 427/2010 | Of Criminal Appeal (Inferior) | The Police vs Caruana Galizia Daphne Anne |
| 07/10/2010 | 1/2004 | Of Magistrates (Criminal Judicature) | The Police vs Caruana Galizia Daphne Anne |
Judgments in civil cases against Daphne Caruana Galizia
| Judgment Date | Reference Number | Court | Parties |
| 19/05/2017 | 46/2011/1 | Of Appeal (Civil Inferior) | Farrugia Julia vs vs Caruana Galizia Daphne |
| 10/03/2017 | 200/2006/1 | Of Appeal (Civil Inferior) | Degiorgio Martin vs Caruana Galizia Daphne |
| 20/02/2017 | 174/2015 | Of Magistrates (Civil) | Gaffarena Mark vs Caruana Galizia Daphne |
| 09/12/2015 | 200/2006 | Of Magistrates (Civil) | Degiorgio Martin vs Caruana Galizia Daphne |
| 19/10/2015 | 46/2011 | Of Magistrates (Civil) | Farrugia Julia vs Caruana Galizia Daphne |
| 29/05/2015 | 2482/1999/1 | Of Magistrates (Civil, Superior) | Cuschieri Emmanue vs Caruana Galizia Daphne |
| 29/09/2011 | 2482/1999/1 | Civil Court, First Hall | Cuschieri Emmanue vs Caruana Galizia Daphne |
| 20/11/2009 | 364/2006/1 | Of Appeal (Civil, Inferior) | Spiteri Carmel sive Charles vs Caruana Galizia Daphne |
| 25/05/2009 | 364/2006 | Of Magistrates (Civil) | Spiteri Carmel sive Charles vs Caruana Galizia Daphne |
| 18/05/2009 | 376/2006 | Of Magistrates (Civil) | Mintoff Perit Dom vs Caruana Galizia Daphne |
| 09/01.2008 | 279/2005/1 | Of Appeal (Civil, Inferior) | Sammut Nutar vs Caruana Galizia Daphne |
| 17/04/2007 | 279/2005 | Of Magistrates (Civil) | Sammut Nutar vs Caruana Galizia Daphne |
| 27/04/2001 | 1/1994/4 | Of Appeal (Civil, Superior) | Mifsud Joseph vs Caruana Galizia Daphne |
| 03/12/1997 | N/A | Of Appeal (Superior) | Mifsud Joseph vs Caruana Galizia Daphne |
Pending Cases
| 66/2017 | 10/03/2017 | Debono Silvio vs Caruana Galizia Daphne Anne | |
| 67/2017 | 10/03/2017 | Debono Silvio vs Caruana Galizia Daphne Anne | |
| 68/2017 | 10/03/2017 | Debono Silvio vs Caruana Galizia Daphne Anne | |
| 69/2017 | 10/03/2017 | Debono Silvio vs Caruana Galizia Daphne Anne | |
| 69/2017 | 10/03/2017 | Debono Silvio vsCaruana Galizia Daphne Anne | |
| 70/2017 | 10/03/2017 | Debono Silvio vs Caruana Galizia Daphne Anne | |
| 71/2017 | 10/03/2017 | Debono Silvio vs Caruana Galizia Daphne Anne | |
| 72/2017 | 10/03/2017 | Debono Silvio vs Caruana Galizia Daphne Anne | |
| 73/2017 | 10/03/2017 | Debono Silvio vs Caruana Galizia Daphne Anne | |
| 74/2017 | 10/03/2017 | Debono Silvio vs Caruana Galizia Daphne Anne | |
| 75/2017 | 10/03/2017 | Debono Silvio vs Caruana Galizia Daphne Anne | |
| 76/2017 | 10/03/2017 | Debono Silvio vs Caruana Galizia Daphne Anne | |
| 77/2017 | 10/03/2017 | Debono Silvio vs Caruana Galizia Daphne Anne | |
| 78/2017 | 10/03/2017 | Debono Silvio vs Caruana Galizia Daphne Anne | |
| 79/2017 | 10/03/2017 | Debono Silvio vs Caruana Galizia Daphne Anne | |
| 80/2017 | 10/03/2017 | Debono Silvio vs Caruana Galizia Daphne Anne | |
| 81/2017 | 10/03/2017 | Debono Silvio vs Caruana Galizia Daphne Anne | |
| 82/2017 | 10/03/2017 | Debono Silvio vs Caruana Galizia Daphne Anne | |
| 83/2017 | 10/03/2017 | Debono Silvio vs Caruana Galizia Daphne Anne | |
| 84/2017 | 10/03/2017 | Debono Silvio vs Caruana Galizia Daphne Anne | |
| 106/2017 | 17/04/2017 | Mizzi Dr Konrad vs Caruana Galizia Daphne | |
| 107/2017 | 17/04/2017 | Mizzi Dr Konrad vs Caruana Galizia Daphne | |
| 109/2017 | 20/04./2017 | Mizzi Dr Konrad vs Caruana Galizia Daphne | |
| 110/2017 | 20/04/2017 | Schembri Keith vs Caruana Galizia Daphne | |
| 111/2017 | 20/04/2017 | Schembri Keith vs Caruana Galizia Daphne | |
| 119/2017 | 04/05/2017 | Muscat Phyllis vsCaruana Galizia Daphne | |
| 133/2016 | 14/06/2016 | Mizzi Dr Konrad vs Caruana Galizia Daphne | |
| 365/2014 | 07/11/2014 | Mizzi Dr Konrad Et vsCaruana Galizia Daphne | |
| 366/2014 | 07/11/2014 | Gambin Lindsey vs Caruana Galizia Daphne | |
| 1934/1999/1 | 02/09/1999 | Vella Dr Mario Et Noe vsCaruana Galizia Daphne Et | |
| 126/2017 | 10/05/2017 | Muscat Joseph Et vsCaruana Galizia Matthew |
Terminated Cases
The following cases were terminated under a particular legal provision because the plaintiffs never appeared in court. The plaintiffs had a grace period in which they had the possibility to reinstate their
They sued Daphne because of her reports (which they strongly denied) that they were in a brothel in Velbert when they were invited to Germany to represent Malta’s EU presidency.
29/2017 06/02/2017 Cardona Dr Christian vs
Caruana Galizia Daphne Anne
30/2017 06/02/2017 Cardona Dr Christian vs
Caruana Galizia Daphne Anne
31/2017 07/02/2017 Gerada Av Dr Joseph vs
Caruana Galizia Daphne Anne
32/2017 07/02/2017 Gerada Av Dr Joseph vs
Caruana Galizia Daphne Anne
There were also 5 cases filed by Adrian Delia, the leader of the opposition. He withdrew his cases after Daphne was killed