Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/619227
2 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 23 DECEMBER 2015 News 2 Lawyer sues Caruana Galizia for libel over €170 hourly rate claim Lawyer Alex Sciberras has filed a defamatory libel claim against blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia, after she alleged that he had received €260,494 for legal services tendered to the Health and Energy Ministry in 2014 MATTHEW AGIUS MSIDA'S deputy mayor, law- yer Alex Sciberras has filed a defamatory libel claim against blogger Daphne Caruana Gal- izia, after she alleged that he, alone, received €260,494 for legal services tendered to the Health and Energy Ministry in 2014. In a blog post which she has since taken down, Caruana Galizia alleged that the law- yer was being remunerated at the rate of €170 an hour and was "working with his father, retired judge Philip Sciberras, who Konrad Mizzi appointed to head the inquiry into the issue of substandard concrete used in the building of the state general hospital". Posting on Facebook yester- day afternoon, Sciberras ex- plained that he had sent Caru- ana Galizia a "right of reply" – a response defending him- self against public criticism, which must, at law, be published in the same m e d i u m which car- ried the original al- legation – categorically denying the allegations and asking the blogger to "desist once and for all from peddling further falsehoods," but that Caruana Galizia had failed to publish it. "I vehemently refute and re- ject any and all insinuations made in your story and/or com- ments in your blog, regarding my professional integrity and that of my father Judge Emeritus Philip Sci- berras," reads the law yer's reply. Partly due to her failure to publish this message, the law yer upped the ante yester- day, filing an ap- plication request- ing the court to find her liable for damages. In the application, Sci- berras accuses Caruana Galizia of having attacked his integrity, honour and reputa- tion, as well as having exposed him to public contempt and ridicule by making allegations and/or insinuations which, he says, are "entirely false". Speaking to MaltaToday, the law yer insisted that he would be happy to drop the lawsuit if Caru- ana Galizia a p o l o g i s e d . "I will al- ways remain open... if she comes around and she is will- ing to offer a simple apology, I will retract all ac- tions. I am not after my pound of f lesh," Sciber- ras said. "I accept her comment and the fact that anyone in the pub- lic limelight will be subject to criticism and controversy, but what I don't accept is blatant lies, intended solely to attack a person's reputation." The offending blog entry has since been removed, but as things stand, un- less Caruana Galizia pub- lishes the apology or contests the case she faces the prospect of being con- demned to pay the maximum amount contemplated at law as damages for defamatory libel – the not inconsiderable sum of €11,646.87. Court clears college, 17 years after favouritism complaint MATTHEW VELLA ONE of Malta's longest-established Catholic colleges has been defini- tively cleared of favouritism in the admission of Sixth Form students, after a court of appeal upheld a first court's sentence. The De La Salle Sixth Form had been absolved in 2011 of mali- ciously discriminating between students chosen to pursue their post-secondary education at the college more than 15 years ago, when it refused to admit student Michael Azzopardi, for its two- year post-secondary course be- tween 1994 and 1996, when 70 students had been admitted in that intake. Azzopardi had attended Stella Maris College primary school and then continued his studies at De La Salle secondary school. After having been refused entry at De La Salle, he attended sixth form at another college but dropped out after the first year and continued his studies privately. In September 1997, his parents, Jean-Pierre and Iliana, instituted a civil court case against the college claiming that their son had been "maliciously" refused entry to the sixth form because it favoured stu- dents with fewer qualifications. They claimed that the college had given preference to other stu- dents over their son and called on the court to compensate them, al- leging that the college gave pref- erence to one specific student, George Dunbar-Cousin, who had been admitted to the college de- spite not having a pass in Maltese at O-level. Maltese, the court noted, was not a prerequisite to be admitted to the college and Dunbar-Cousin had nine O-levels when Azzopardi had seven. In its decision, the appeals court said that independently of the ac- tion, it saw no connection between the alleged injustice suffered by the Azzopardis, with the fact that their son had ultimately received a private education they paid for. "It cannot be proven that he would not have done that anyway had he been allowed to attend the college sixth form. The court can- not understand why the plaintiffs persisted in their allegations and demands, appealing the court sen- tence which has absolutely noth- ing censurable." 'No targets' for HSBC Malta in staff cutting plan TIM DIACONO HSBC has refused to set targets on its cost-cutting plan for its Malta branch, following reports that 15% of its entire staff had applied for its voluntary early re- tirement scheme. A spokesperson for HSBC Mal- ta told MaltaToday that any talk of figures at this stage is purely "speculative" as the bank has not yet had time to go through the some 200 applications it had re- ceived by the deadline on Friday. "We have to see who was inter- ested to take it up and consider what cost reduction is possible," the spokesperson said, while reit- erating the bank's stance that the scheme is "about reducing costs, not people". "Clearly there is a link between staff and costs, but the focus here is cost management. We are very clear that this scheme is being carried out in the spirit of a vol- untary programme." Earlier this year, HSBC an- nounced that it would slash 50,000 global jobs in an attempt to boost profits. Half of these jobs would be cut through the sale of business in Brazil and Turkey, and the other half from the closing of branches and the consolidation of IT and back-office operations. HSBC Malta's new chief ex- ecutive, Andrew Beane, has said that the local bank is "absolutely aligned" with the global bank's group strategy of expansion "bal- anced by structural costs and capital pressures". Last month, HSBC Malta an- nounced a voluntary retirement programme for employees as part of its efforts to boost profitability and cost effectiveness. Half the bank's costs – €52 million last year – are spent on wages, allow- ances and staff benefits. Employees accepted through this scheme will be granted three years' wages as a sweetener. The Times of Malta reported this week that 200 people, around 15% of the bank's total staff, have applied for the scheme – a report- edly much higher interest level than HSBC was expecting. Yet the bank has been mum on how many of these staff will see their wishes to retire early ful- filled, and whether it is looking to shed staff from any particular job sector. "The applications are in the process of being reviewed and no decisions have been taken," it said. "We will make an announce- ment on the matter with all the relevant facts in due course ac- cording to our market listing ob- ligations." tdiacono@mediatoday.com.mt Daphne Caruana Galizia Alex Sciberras