Watch: Police to appeal court’s decision to throw out noise complaint cases
Magistrate forced to dismiss cases against two Sliema bars over prosecution’s procedural error
Police will appeal a court’s decision to throw out six noise-complaint cases against two Sliema bars, after prosecutors repeatedly botched their cases with the same procedural mistakes, the Home Affairs Minister said.
The cases stemmed from noise complaints filed by two neighbouring residents in 2023 and 2024 against bars MedAsia Playa (today known as Toyroom beach club) at Qui-si-Sana, and Gourmet Cocktail Bar and Grill on the Strand.
The prosecution repeatedly made the same procedural mistakes in the police or Malta Tourism Authority affidavits: failing to indicate where the oath was taken, and to present an original copy of the affidavit.
Due to these errors, Magistrate Kevan Azzopardi had no other option but to acquit the accused, as the prosecution presented “inadmissible evidence”.
Speaking to Times of Malta on Monday, Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri said he was informed the police force would be appealing the verdict.
“It’s a shame that, despite the fact that the police force oversees thousands of prosecutions in court, more prominence is given to cases in which there is an allegation of failure of duty,” he said, while referring to a recent drug bust that resulted in the seizure of 76 kilos of cocaine valued at €9 million.
Camilleri said he was also informed that procedures related to affidavits had been “strengthened.”
“Anyone who feels that the police force intentionally failed in its duty through malice or negligence can turn to mechanisms that allow for an investigation to be carried out,” he said, adding that the number of mistakes made by the police had gone down substantially over the past few years thanks to the strengthening of the force’s ethics code and internal structures.
The charges in question concerned playing amplified music that caused a disturbance to nearby residents.
In seven of the judgments, the court noted that the police and/or the MTA had presented affidavits which did not include information about where the oath was taken.
Under Article 7 of the Commissioner for Oaths Ordinance, affidavits must state “at what place and on what date the oath or affidavit was taken or made”.
In each ruling, the magistrate declared the affidavits “null and void”.
The canopy belonging to Gourmet Cocktail Bar and Grill had illegally occupied a section of The Strand for about a decade until the Planning Authority finally sanctioned it last year.