Dear Dames, and Knights,
we have the pleasure of informing that our Sovereign Order and State recently won another important case in Court, this time in Hungary, and we seize this opportunity to attach copy of the English translation of the all text of the Court Sentence.
The precedents of this case are the following:
Between the Republic of Hungary and the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta ( SMOM ) - this is one of the names they use - was signed and agreement to enter into force in 2011. This agreement provided, among others, that each of the parts would defend the name and the symbols of the other.
In the light of that agreement the Hungarian Public Prosecutor Office presented a complaint to Court wanting to force the National Association of the Hungarian Knights of the Federation of the Autonomous Priories of the Sovereign Order of Saint John of Jerusalem - Knights of Malta -, dully registered and legalized in Hungary since 2007, to change its name and symbols - evoking its misuse -, and also wanting to force us to stop and abandon our Humanitarian Work ( which is made at our own expenses and never with Tax Payers money from any State ) evoking that this humanitarian work was exclusive of the SMOM !!!
Subsequently the case was judged in a First Instance Court and - as it was expected - the court ruled in our favour, but the Public Prosecutor’s Office appealed from that sentence, therefore the case transited to the Court of Appeal, which issued judgement and sentence again in our favour, and this sentence is FINAL and NO APPEAL CAN BE LODGED AGAINST THIS RULING
However we not only won another case in Court, but also that Court of Appeal - the Metropolitan Court of Budapest - in its sentence, besides the normal legal technicalities to justify the sentence given, states and recognizes very important facts - which are DEMOLISHING for those who arrogate to themselves to be the ONLY heirs of the ancient Order of St. John of Jerusalem, and to be the ONLY ones with rights to use its name and symbols -, such as:
A- " As was also referred to in the course of the lawsuit, the Maltese order of knights is not a term exclusively specifying a clearly defined single legal entity.”
NOTE: THIS STATEMENT WHICH IS PART OF THE SENTENCE IS OF THE UTMOST IMPORTANCE SINCE IT CONFIRMS WHAT OTHER PREVIOUS COURT SENTENCES HAD ALREADY STATED IN DIFFERENT FORMS AND MANNERS, WHICH IS THAT THE SMOM ( CLEARLY MENTIONED IN ALL OF THIS SENTENCE ) ARE NOT THE ONLY ONES WITH RIGHT TO USE THE DESIGNATION OF “ ORDER OF THE KNIGHTS OF MALTA
" B- " In the name of the defendant the federation of the priores of the order of knights, i.e. not specifically the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta (… ) accordingly, from this combination of words it is not possible to establish that it would be a reference to the order that is a contracting party in the agreement therefore the name is not suitable for misleading even after the promulgation of the agreement. "
NOTE: IT IS CLEARLY STATED BY A SUPERIOR COURT ( THE COURT OF APPEAL ) OF A COUNTRY MEMBER OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, THAT OUR NAMES ARE DIFFERENT AND ARE NOT CONFUSABLE WITH THE SOVEREIGN MILITARY HOSPITALLER ORDER OF SAINT JOHN OF JERUSALEM OF RHODES AND OF MALTA ( ALSO KNOWN AS SMOM OR SOVEREIGN MILITARY ORDER OF MALTA ). THIS IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE, IN FACT, THIS FEDERATION OF THE AUTONOMOUS PRIORIES OF THE SOVEREIGN ORDER OF ST. JOHN OF JERUSALEM, KNIGHTS OF MALTA, DOES NOT WISH TO BE CONFUSED WITH ANY OTHER BRANCH OF THE OLD ORDER, EITHER LEGITIMATE OR ILLEGITIMATE.
C. From this sentence stays clearly established that our Federation of Autonomous Priories of the Sovereign Order of St. John of Jerusalem - Knights of Malta, or its National Association of the Hungarian Knights HAS THE RIGHT TO USE, AND HAS NEVER MISUSED OR USED ABUSIVELY, THE NAME AND SYMBOLS OF THE OLD ORDER OF ST. JOHN OF JERUSALEM AND OF THE TERM "KNIGHTS OF MALTA” … AND ALSO HAS THE RIGHT TO CONTINUE ITS HUMANITARIAN WORK
SOME IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS:
1- As it is known the sentences given by a Court of the European Union and considered as final sentences, are recognized by the other member countries of the EU.
2- The present sentence is final and emerges from an Hungarian Superior Court - after the appeal from the plaintiff, who lost the case in the First Instance - and this Court is the very respected and reputed Budapest Metropolitan Court which has some of finest judges of Central Europe, and this fact confers to the said sentence even more credibility and a higher value.
3- This sentence does not mention or used one single time, the previous sentences in our favor given by several Hungarian Courts, such as:
CASE 2 . Validity of Our Diplomatic Passport
On the 11th March 2010 in the city of Szekszárd, the Tolna County Court, as an Appeal Court, announced its judgement (Nr.: 2.Bf.197/2009/3.) in the lawsuit of the criminal case against Sir Csaba Király, who was accused by the Police of using a Fake Diplomatic Passport of the Federation of Autonomous Priories, while he was assisting poor Orphans from Transilvanya.
The main point of this sentence is that the Court of Appeal states and rules that the Diplomatic Passport - issued by the Federation of Autonomous Priories of the Sovereign Order of Saint John of Jerusalem - Knights of Malta - ( KMFAP ) is not fictitious, nor false, nevertheless the Republic of Hungary does not recognize it on di plomatic level, however the existing KMFAP, determining itself as "State Order without land" is recognized as a State by other countries. The lack of recognition affects only the passport's validity in Hungary.
Once more our Sovereign Rights as a State were recognized by a Court of Law of the European Union.
CASE 3. CASE AGAINST HETI VÁLASZ NEWSPAPER
The Federation of the Autonomous Priories of the Sovereign Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, Knights of Malta, (KMFAP) won the lawsuit against the Hungarian newspaper „HETI VÁLASZ” (Weekly Answer).
On the 27th September 2011 in Budapest, the Municipal Court of Appeal announced the judgement (Nr.: 2.Pf.21.309/2011/3.) on second instance now, in the lawsuit of KMFAP against the Editorial Office of „HETI VÁLASZ” and the decision of the Court of First Instance (Municipal Court) was affirmed. This verdict can not be appealed.
The Heti Válasz newspaper had published in its edition of the 25th of March 2010 an article with the information - totally unfounded and unsubstantiated - that the Hungarian National Security Service had informed that some of the Knights of our Federation of Priories ( KMFAP ) had been involved in fraudulent businesses, however it was proved in Court that the said Security Service had never produced such information, and nothing, no facts and no evidences, confirmed the news published by the said newspaper, who was obliged by the Court of Appeal to publish a retraction and denial of the mentioned article by the means of a text defined by the Court in the period of 8 days next to the sentence.
THE PRINCIPLES THAT GUIDE US IN THE DEFENSE OF OUR GOOD NAME AND REPUTATION:
We, The Federation of Autonomous Priories of the Sovereign Order of St. John of Jerusalem - Knights of Malta - ( KMFAP ) have never attacked or promoted wars or attacks against anyone, although we had that possibility, however this does not mean that we fear something or somebody, or that we neglect for a single moment the defense of our Rights, of our Good Name - which we much praise and respect -, and of our interests.
This Federation practices actively the religious tolerance and the ecumenism very correctly defended by the Holy See and by many major religions, and since this Federation is very proud of its Christian origins and follows the catholic principles about the practice of the Truth and of the Good, it does not need to defend itself, and its Rights, by using vile lies, malicious rumours, intrigue in the corridors, gossip, or throwing the stone and after hiding the hand, as some do.
All this Federation needs, wants and uses are : Truth and Transparency . Therefore, KMFAP will not fail in bringing to Courts of Law wherever, whoever, and whenever necessary, all of those who - in a vile and not Christian manner - tell lies and produce defamation, gossips and rumours about the Federation or about its Knights.
KMFAP will never cease to defend itself when attacked, always using the Truth and the Justice as its weapons.
English Sentence of Budapest court ...
