Law: Rectifying a Glaring Anomaly

Malta Independent
April 21, 2012

http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=143163

We will start by saying that the judge in the appeal filed by the Attorney General in relation to the rape of a boy by a defrocked priest was absolutely correct in terms of law.

The case refers to Godwin Scerri, who was cleared by the Magistrates' Court, and subsequently the appeals court, of raping a young boy who was in his care. The victim had testified that he was raped in Santa Venera, but the charge sheet issued by the prosecution referred to the location as being Mtarfa. In appealing, the Attorney General's Office argued that the accused could still be found guilty, irrespective of where the act took place.

The judge, on the other hand, observed that the prosecution had plenty of time to rectify the mistake, and did not do so. As we said, this is completely correct in terms of law, but we also have to say that it is a grave miscarriage of justice. Godwin Scerri, 75, was sentenced to five years' imprisonment for abusing this same and other boys in his care. But he has been cleared of what is the most serious charge of all – the rape of a young boy, in his care, and all down to some anomaly in our legal texts.

One does not need to be a Constitutional expert or a judge or a lawyer to know that this incident is a miscarriage of justice. While it is a legally correct ruling, it is morally wrong and does not reflect the sentiments of society, common sense and decency.

This issue should be taken up in parliament immediately and a workaround needs to be discussed. We must trust that the error was human and genuine. If it was not, then we are speaking of a completely different scenario.

Human beings do make mistakes, however, justice should not be denied due to human error. While it is clear that the prosecution did have time to alter the charge sheet, there should be a provision – according to law – whereby a charge can be altered if there is a genuine case of error.

One would have to wonder what would have happened if this was a murder case and the person got off scot-free despite evidence being produced against the accused. This has absolutely nothing to do with who actually committed the crime, but rather, what safeguards should be in place to make sure that justice is served and seen to be upheld.

We should not think that this is a case of 'only in Malta'; such precedents occur all over the world. The issue which is really at stake now is to actually sort the anomaly out and prevent anything similar happening in the future.