Clerical abuse compensation case suspended pending judge recusal appeal

Court sittings in the case for compensation filed by victims of clerical abuse have been put on hold, pending an appeal against a decision by the judge not to recuse himself due to perceived ties to the Church.

The judge with the "ties" to the Church is Judge Joseph R. Micallef, the same one who this morning accepted the request filed by the victims.

Read more: Clerical abuse victims to file Constitutional case

The plaintiffs - Lawrence Grech, Joseph Magro, Leonard Camilleri, Jason Camilleri, David Cassar, Noel Dimech, Angelo Spiteri, Raymond Azzopardi, Charles Falzon, Oliver Goodram, Paul Cauchi and Joseph Mangion - had filed the case against the Curia, the two priests who had abused them, the Missionary Order of St. Paul (MSSP), the Prime Minister, the Education and Family ministers and the Attorney General in 2012, claiming that the authorities had been aware of the abuse, but had done nothing to stop it.

The abusers, priests Godwin Scerri and Carmel Pulis, who have since been defrocked, had been allowed to keep their positions at the home, holding absolute control over their victims.

In a brief sitting this morning, Judge Joseph R. Micallef accepted a request filed by the victims’ lawyers Franco Vassallo and Patrick Valentino, asking the court to suspend sittings in order to allow them to file a Constitutional reference.

Last March, Judge Micallef had turned down a request for the case to be decided by another member of the judiciary, ruling that their request would result in an abuse of the judicial process under the guise of protecting the right to a fair hearing.