accusation fails. The imputation of such fact may, in appropriate circumstances, constitute slander or defamation98. In the Criminal Appeal of Police vs. Giuseppe Attard99, Mr. Justice Montanaro Gauci held that, in so far as the accusation made is not in respect of an offence which can give rise to the exercise of a criminal action before the Courts of Criminal jurisdiction, a charge of calumnious accusation fails, even though the fact falsely attributed to the victim may expose him to disciplinary action and the infliction of punishment by authorities other than the Criminal Courts (e. g. under Sections 9 and 13 of the Police Ordinance - Chapter 35). (ii) Intent to Harm the Person Accused
The accuser who gives the information or makes the report or complaint to the competent authority against another person may have grounds for believing or at least suspecting him to be guilty of the offence charged. Notwithstanding that the evidence may subsequently disclose and establish the innocence of the accused, the law could not reasonably punish the accuser who would not have acted from malice and would have merely used and not abused a right which is competent to him. Even in Roman Law, which repressed calumny with the greatest severity, the acquittal of the accused was not reason enough for subjecting the accuser to the punishment for calumny. The Magistrates had the duty to inquire “de accusatoris consilio” and to see “qua mente ductus ad accusationem processit” and to excuse him entirely from the punishment for calumny whenever “justum ejus errorem repererint”. Indeed, such punishment could not even be applied in the case in which the accuser had acted rashly or with patent imprudence without pondering on the consequences of the accusation he was making. In our law which requires the intent to harm, the same principles apply. The “harm” to which reference is here made may consist merely in exposing the victim to the possibility of criminal proceedings being taken and punishment awarded against him. Indeed, in order that the crime of calumny may subsist, the possibility of such proceedings is essential. This does not mean that it is absolutely necessary that the
98
Vide Rex vs Giuseppe Portelli, 8/5/1915, Law Reports Vol. XXII, Part IV, pg. 33; Police vs Attard,
7/11/1949, Law Reports Vol. XXXIII, Part IV, pg. 965 99
7/11/1950
Page 78 of 350