Diplomat requests permanent injunction to stop employment termination and transfer

A diplomat employed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs today asked a court to issue a permanent injunction against the government to halt efforts to terminate her employment with the Foreign Ministry and transfer her to the Industrial Projects and Services Ltd (IPSL), a company originally set up to absorb former dockyard workers.

A temporary injunction to this effect had already been obtained by Dr. Antoinette Cutajar, a PhD in political science.

In court proceedings before Judge Edwina Grima today, Leo Bonnici, from the Office of the Prime Minister, testified that Cutajar was engaged in 1999 on a definite contract and then engaged again on an indefinite contract in 2008, without the consent or knowledge of the Public Service Commission.

This “created an anomaly as she is not a public officer engaged by the PSC, yet is engaged on an indefinite basis”, said Bonnici.

Lawyer Karol Aquilina, on behalf of Cutajar, said his client carried out the duties of a public officer and was employed by the government. Her area of specialisation has “nothing to do with the IPSL” and the transfer was incomprehensible.

Aquilina cited a 2007 European Union directive that stipulates that those who are employed for more than four consecutive years are entitled to an indefinite contract.

Victoria Buttigieg, from the Attorney General’s Office, told the court that as Cutajar was engaged “as a person of trust”, this did not apply. She told the court that Cutajar was not employed through a public call, but “hand picked” by the minister at the time. As the minister changed, the trust effectively stopped and her contract was not renewed.

The court reserved judgement.