Boatman awarded Lm7,000 damages for discrimination

Mr Justice Giannino Caruana Demajo, sitting in the First Hall of the Civil Court, yesterday upheld a constitutional application filed by David Axiaq and awarded him Lm7,000 damages.

Mr Axiaq filed his constitutional application against the Public Transport Authority. By a court decree of December 2004 the Malta Maritime Authority was also called into the suit.

In his application filed in 1997 Mr Axiaq claimed he had requested a licence to use a passenger boat at Dwejra. This licence was issued in 1996 by the PTA. However, in the following year Mr Axiaq was informed by the PTA that the licence would not be renewed for 1997 on the basis that it had been issued to him by mistake.

Mr Axiaq claimed he had been discriminated against in violation of the European Convention of Human Rights and that his right to a fair hearing had been violated in contravention of both the convention and the Constitution.

In April 1998 the First Hall of the Civil Court had dismissed Mr Axiaq's application after it declined to hear the case.

However, after an appeal filed by Mr Axiaq to the Constitutional Court, the latter court upheld the appeal and revoked the first judgment.

The case was remitted to the first court for a decision on the merits of the case.

In yesterday's judgment the court noted that Mr Axiaq had been issued with a permit in 1996 and that this permit had never been revoked.

The PTA had refused to renew the permit for 1997 on the basis that it ought not to have been issued originally as this was against the authority's policies.

However, no clear evidence of the existence of this policy had been produced. The policy guidelines mentioned by the PTA were not put down in writing. It resulted that after eight permits for passenger boats had been issued the police had refused to issue more licences and Dwejra was designated as an area closed to new licences.

It was not said who had taken these decisions.

When the PTA took over the licensing function from the police it continued to observe the policy it became aware of through hearsay.

However, the court ruled that this was not a proper policy as it had no reasonable foundation and it was up to the PTA to carry out detailed and comprehensive studies to justify its actions.

The court added that applicant's right to a fair hearing had also been violated as a result of the refusal on the part of the PTA to renew Mr Axiaq's licence.

In liquidating the damages sustained by Mr Axiaq the court noted that the applicant used to work as a full time boatman. He lost his work, with serious financial repercussions to him and his family, as a direct consequence of the revocation of his licence.