A court yesterday upheld a writ of summons filed by the owners of a property in South Street, Valletta and ordered the Confederation of Malta Trade Unions to pay Lm8,300 damages.

Amy Magri Demajo, George Debono, Violet Papagiorcopulo and Erminia Scerri filed a writ against the CMTU claiming they were the owners of the property, which had been granted to the CMTU by title of temporary emphyteusis for 21 years from March, 1978, against payment of ground rent of Lm250 per annum.

The emphyteutical grant had elapsed in May, 1999 but the CMTU had not returned the premises, the owners claimed.

Thus, they had sustained damages as they were being deprived of the enjoyment of their property.

Furthermore, the CMTU had failed to maintain the property, and the court was requested to order the CMTU to vacate the premises and to make good the damages sustained.

Mr Justice Raymond C. Pace, sitting in the First Hall of the Civil Court, noted that the CMTU had handed over the keys to the premises in the course of the litigation, and the case was therefore to continue solely with regard to the issue of damages.

He added that at the termination of the emphyteutical grant, the CMTU had been bound to return the property to plaintiffs.

As the CMTU had failed to do so, it had occupied the premises without any legal title from that date until the keys had been returned. Thus, the owners had been deprived of their property for this period, and had therefore sustained damages for which the CMTU was liable.

The court further noted that the CMTU had failed to carry out the necessary repairs to the property, and that consequently, the damages sustained in the property were valued at Lm2,800.

The court found that the damages sustained by plaintiffs as a result of the CMTU's unlawful occupation of their property were to be liquidated in the sum of Lm5,500.

The CMTU was therefore ordered to pay plaintiffs a total of Lm8,300 in damages.