Police officer sues Prime Minister over dismissal after Abela's defence of ministers

Veteran police officer Maurice Curmi is suing the Police Commissioner and Prime Minister, claiming his dismissal for alleged ethical breaches was unlawful and discriminatory, contrasting his treatment with the leniency shown to two government ministe

By: independent.com.mt

Nov 11 2024
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Police officer sues Prime Mini

Maurice Curmi, who since 1991 served in the Malta Police Force and reached the rank of Superintendent, on 17 October 2023 was officially suspended for alleged ethical breaches. According to Curmi, this was announced unofficially in major newspapers on 16 October 2023.

Curmi insists this decision was not supported by law, maintaining that as a public officer, he has been wrongly served with a decision finding him guilty of failing to uphold the standards expected of him by the Force. This decision was officially sanctioned by the Prime Minister on 25 June 2024.

Curmi has now filed provisional proceedings, where he is asking the court to quash the decisions taken in connection with his dismissal. Curmi describes the measures against him as arbitrary and discriminatory, citing in support of this the European Convention on Human Rights, which provides that "no one should be discriminated against by any public authority for any reason."

The protest by Curmi also makes reference to the recent report of the Commissioner of Standards for Public Life, mandated to investigate a possible ethical elusion involving two Government Ministers, where it came to light that Ministers were found to have breached ethical rules over the misuse of government funds. It was revealed that Minister Clayton Bartolo's wife was employed on a €68,000-a-year contract as a consultant, even though she has only carried out secretarial duties, without being qualified for such a role. The Prime Minister decided to accept Bartolo's apology and did nothing against the ministers.

Curmi insists that such an attitude of no accountability compares forcibly with the serious measures taken against him and, in this connection, slanders the Commissioner of Police and Prime Minister for exercising a discriminatory double standard in respect of his treatment. He contended that his dismissal was based on a selective approach to enforcement of ethics within the public service.

In his judicial protest, Curmi is asking the Police Commissioner and Prime Minister to revoke the decisions leading to his dismissal and to pay him damages over what he describes as "discriminatory" actions against his person.

Lawyers Jason Azzopardi and Mary Rose Micallef signed the judicial protest filed before the First Hall, Civil Court.