Miriam Pace, 54, died while supposedly in the safety of her home because an architect failed to assess the state of affairs on the ground and negligently signed condition reports drawn up by an unqualified person.
She was taken away from her husband and children because an architect charged with supervising the works was nowhere to be seen, not even when her house in Santa Venera collapsed, crushing her to death in early March last year.
This emerges clearly from a judgment handed down by the Magistrates’ Court but which, rather than closure, has brought more heartache to the family and provoked anger within society.
At no point in his 98-page judgment does the magistrate express any doubts that the prosecution failed to prove its case. In fact, the court went into some detail to underscore the gravity of the two architects’ serious shortcomings. This tough stand, however, changed when it came to punishment.
The magistrate pointed out that, apart from the accused and others who suffered damage, this case also involved society. “No 30 pieces of silver will ever bring Miriam Pace back and this should not be forgotten. The culture is that life is protected from conception till death,” he boldly declared, adding that society expects professionals to do their duty in line with their oath of allegiance, according to law and guided by common sense.
“All must abide by the rules and nobody in authority should fear cowboys even if drastic measures are taken to protect life.”
Then the anti-climax: Anthony Mangion was ordered to do 400 hours of community work and pay a fine of €8,000 while Roderick Camilleri must put in 480 hours and was fined €10,000. The 480 hours is the maximum at law. But it is not what can be called an effective deterrence.
We are not advocating sending the two architects to prison, which was within the magistrate’s power to impose. But this case surely justified the withdrawal of their warrant, which would have been achieved with a criminal conviction accompanied by a suspended sentence.
The magistrate gave three main reasons for his decision: the architects have a clean police conduct, Camilleri had to provide for his family, and compensation for material damages had already been settled.
The judgment sets a dangerous precedent. Paltry fines are not a problem to developers, contractors and their architects. Having to do community work may be embarrassing but surely falls short of being proportionate to the crime. The result is that all will continue to make hay while the sun shines while poor citizens continue to live in fear, in the ‘comfort’ of their homes. Just read our front page story today to confirm how we have learnt nothing from the Pace tragedy.
The magistrate must have anticipated a negative reaction to his judgment for he dedicates a whole part to public opinion. He quotes Lord Justice Lawton, from a judgment by Chief Justice Emeritus Vincent Degaetano: “Society, through the courts, must show its abhorrence of particular types of crime and the only way in which the courts can show this is by the sentences they pass. The courts do not have to reflect public opinion. On the other hand, they must [not] disregard it. Perhaps the main duty of the court is to lead public opinion.”
By his punishment, the magistrate missed the opportunity to send a strong message: that the tragedy could have been avoided by stricter enforcement of regulations.
Instead, he skirted around the issue of state negligence in protecting citizens, saying such matter was to be discussed “in other fora certainly not before this court”.
This judgment brings the house of justice down, especially on Pace, her family and society.
Corrections July 4: The original version of the editorial wrongly attributed the quote regarding public opinion to Chief Justice Emeritus Vincent Degaetano, who was in fact quoting Lord Justice Lawton, as stated in the magistrate's judgment. However, in the magistrate's judgment, the word 'not' was left out of the penultimate sentence of the quote.