Police authorities have filed an application of appeal to the case judgment involving 31 foreign women who had been cleared of running nightclubs for immoral purposes.

On 13 February, a magistrates’ court cleared the women of committing an offence against decency or morals and dressing indecently, but police authorities are calling on the Court of Criminal Appeal to revoke and annul the magistrates’ court decision with respect to 28 of the women, and to confirm the judgement with respect to three of the women who were charged.

The police had carried out simultaneous inspections on the night between 17 and 18 November last year, to see whether any form of prostitution or immoral activity was taking place.

They had arrested the women, after witnessing some of them performing lap dances for patrons at the entertainment establishments.

In the application, police authorities claim that the magistrates’ court decision was “rich in imprecision, misconceptions and denigration of the constituted police authorities and in superficiality in the evaluation of the evidence, but very poor in the exposition of the law on the matters in issue and in upholding public morality”.

Using the Profitable Exploits: Lap dancing in the UK definition of what constitutes a lap dance, the police are claiming that, in law, a lap dance amounts to a lewd act, that any person who commits this lewd act is considered to be a prostitute and that all the establishments whereat prostitutes perform this act is considered a brothel in terms of the law.

The police are also claiming that the magistrates’ court should have come to its own conclusions on the basis of the notion of prostitution according to law and upon an evaluation of the entire evidence, rather than relying, unquestioningly, on what was stated by three witnesses.

Police authorities are therefore calling on the court to find 28 of the women guilty of all the charges brought against them and to inflict punishment according to law.

Dr Arthur Azzopardi signed the application on behalf of the Attorney General.