Top civil servant Ronald Mizzi has announced his resignation after a court ruled there was enough evidence for him to face trial over his role in the hospitals case.

The permanent secretary within the Economy Ministry wrote to the principal permanent secretary to hand in his notice hours after the court ruling. 

Mizzi was the top civil servant under then health minister Konrad Mizzi at the time when the deal to hand over three hospitals to Vitals Global Healthcare was conceived, negotiated and awarded.

In his resignation letter Mizzi said that he is “confident that facts will emerge in court which will absolve me".

He said it was a “personal choice that makes sense and respects the public administration.”

Earlier in the day, a court ruled that Mizzi and 13 others – including former deputy prime Minister Chris Fearne and current Central Bank Governor Edward Scicluna – are to stand trial in connection with the scandal.

They face charges of fraud amounting to over €5,000, having made fraudulent gains and misappropriation and committing crimes they were duty-bound to prevent.

The charges related to the deal signed under Joseph Muscat's government in 2016 for Vitals Global Healthcare to run Karin Grech, St Luke's and Gozo general hospital despite the company having no previous experience. 

A court annulled the deal last year, declaring it fraudulent. An appeals court later found 'senior government officials' were complicit in the privatisation fraud and the Maltese government had failed to protect the national interest.

In an auditor general's report on the hospitals deal, Ronald Mizzi was already identified as being partly responsible for governance failures.

His role will now be taken up by Nancy Caruana who currently occupies the post of Permanet Secretary within the Ministry for Inclusion and the Voluntary Sector.  

The latter role will be assumed by Mark Musu, Permanent Secretary in the Social Policy Ministry.