A former police superintendent has been awarded €61,000 in damages after a court found that he was discriminated against when he was excluded from promotion to assistant commissioner.
Raymond D’Anastas had applied for promotion in August 2016 and subsequently went before the Ombudsman and then the courts after being passed over, claiming discrimination.
The Ombudsman had found the promotions process to be vitiated and defective, with then Police Commissioner Lawrence Cutajar having chosen people on the basis of personal trust.
Ombudsman Anthony Mifsud had urged the police to issue a fresh call for promotions and recommended compensation of €15,000 to D’Anastas for moral damages. The police corps, however, ignored that recommendation. D'Anastas then sued the state and the police chief for damages.
The Civil Court in the constitutional capacity on Thursday declared that it had been sufficiently proven that during the selection process, some candidates had been favoured over others, not just the claimant.
“This does not mean that the court is saying that none of those promoted deserved to be promoted, but it is evident that some of those promoted were given an unfair advantage they did not deserve, while other candidates such as the claimant, ended up having no chance of being considered for the position,” Judge Joanne Vella Cuscchieri ruled.
D’Anastas, represented by his lawyer David Bonello, argued that he should be compensated for loss of earnings, particularly as a result of a lower police pension.
The former police superintendent said he was owed €112,00 after considering the loss of salary, allowances and pension over a 20-year period
The court ruled that D’Anastas should be paid just over half that amount for two reasons.
Firstly, the court said that had there been no discrimination in the appointments, the superintendent was still not guranteed promotion.
Secondly, the court ruled that calculating a loss in pension earnings over 20 years was “speculative” and “uncertain”.
“While it wishes the claimant to live and enjoy retirement for much longer than that, it considers that this uncertainty should also be reflected in the calculation of compensation by applying a reduction”.
The ruling lifts the government's meritocracy mask -PN
Reacting to the ruling, the Nationalist Party said the judgement pulled down the government's mask about meritocracy. The Labour government had claimed that all could succeed through their abilities, yet in this case the superintendent never had a chance of being given the position, regardless of whether he was qualified for it or not.
This was yet another judgement that exposed the Labour government, shadow home affairs minister Darren Carabott and the PN’s justice shadow minister Karol Aquilina said.
The PN expressed its solidarity and support for police officers who wish to see a change in the way the Force is run and want to see their careers advance according to their abilities.