A midwife has successfully blocked a promotion exercise for chief midwifery manager at Mater Dei Hospital after proving in court that she had been wrongfully excluded from the selection process.

Contesting her disqualification, Maria Lourdes Cutajar filed a request for an injunction against the Public Service Commission and the permanent secretary within the health ministry.

She claimed that she had the qualifications and experience to be promoted to the position of chief midwifery manager at the state hospital.

Madam Justice Audrey Demicoli upheld her request for an injunction in relation to the ministry official but agreed with arguments made by the PSC that it had nothing to do with the promotion exercise so it could not be bound by the injunction.

Cutajar explained that the promotion process began in May when the health authorities issued an internal call. She and another person were the only two who applied. At the time, she was an officer in scale six and was also on a year’s probation for the post of charge midwife.

When the results were published in July, she discovered she had been excluded from the process because she did not hold the position of charge midwife so did not satisfy the eligibility criteria.

These state that applicants “must be confirmed in their current appointment”.

Cutajar received an email from the PSC in November confirming the disqualification.

In her application, she said that although she was still on probation in her new role, she qualified under the other criteria. Cutajar called on the court to stop the process until she contested the PSC’s decision to disqualify her. 

Madam Justice Demicoli observed that the court was bound to issue an injunction against the government or a public authority only if it was satisfied that, unless the warrant was issued, the prejudice to the person requesting the warrant would be disproportionate.

The court noted that, according to her payslips, Cutajar was occupying the position of officer in scale six, so she had a right to apply for the promotion. The only remedy she had was to go to court to halt the process before it carried on.

The judge said that, although every position was important within the health service, the department could still operate if the position remained vacant for longer.

Lawyers Timothy Bartolo and Chris Cilia represented Cutajar in the proceedings.