In a sentence handed down on Friday, the Appeals Court disagreed with the reasons that led the First Hall to turn down a plea by Joe Galea that he was libelled by Joe Mifsud in the book Id-Djarju ta Ciro del Negro, published by the Sensiela Kotba Socjalisti, but it equally agreed that Mr Galea had not been libelled by Dr Mifsud.

The Appeals Court, composed of Chief Justice Vincent de Gaetano, Judge Albert J. Magri and Judge Tonio Mallia, said it seemed that the First Hall did not understand the nature of Dr Mifsud’s book. This was neither a report of what took place in court nor a work of investigative journalism, it said. On the contrary, it was a collage of speeches and other documents exhibited in Court, together with many observations and comments by the author, many of which are repetitive and without any logical sequence.

Nor was the book any work of investigative journalism: it rather seemed based on acceptance by the author that everything that Del Negro said was true – an attitude described by the court as “totally naïve”.

Nevertheless, while disagreeing with the reasons that led the First Hall to rule that the book did not libel Mr Galea, the Appeals Court said that, having read the whole book, it could not find that he had been libelled by it. The only reference to him was that Mr Del Negro had met Mr Galea in an office in Sta Venera and had chatted with him on completely innocuous subjects.