Father wrongly convicted of molesting daughter loses case for compensation

Emmanuel Camilleri, who was jailed in 2011 after being wrongly convicted of sexually abusing his underage daughter has lost a lawsuit, he filed against the State, demanding compensation for a breach of his human rights.

Before his daughter confessed to having fabricated the allegations at the behest of her mother, Camilleri had served 397 days of a 24-month jail term after being found guilty of defiling his daughter and was ordered to sign on the sex offenders’ register. Two years after that, he had lost an appeal and had his conviction confirmed.

He had filed a constitutional case claiming to have been wrongly convicted on the basis of false testimony. Before that case could be decided, Camilleri’s daughter had admitted to lying under oath and making up the story. She was convicted of perjury in 2015.

In 2016, the First Hall, Civil Court, in its constitutional jurisdiction, had quashed the man’s conviction, a decision confirmed later that year by the Constitutional Court, on appeal.

Camilleri had then filed a case for compensation from the State, claiming wrongful conviction.

But on Tuesday, the First Hall, Civil Court, presided over by Mr Justice Mark Chetcuti, rejected the man’s claim, deciding that the cause of the man’s suffering was wrongdoing committed by a private individual - his daughter.

The court noted that the authorities, prosecution included, had followed the correct legal procedure.

Compensation would only have been due under the European Convention Act Moreover, compensation in clear cases of miscarriage of justice, “in the sense that there would be acknowledgment that the person concerned was clearly innocent.”

The judge observed that in the case at hand, the Constitutional Court had not pronounced Camilleri innocent, and dismissed the case for compensation.