Minivan owner wins Lm54,000 in damages

The Malta Transport Authority was yesterday ordered to pay damages amounting to Lm54,000 to Nazzareno Fenech after ruling that the regulator had acted ultra vires its powers at law.

Mr Justice Tonio Mallia, sitting in the First Hall of the Civil Court, heard that Mr Fenech had a van that was licensed to carry passengers. In 1994, he had decided to replace the van with another and had requested a transfer of his licence onto the new vehicle. He was told by the transport watchdog (ADT) that the permit would be issued provided he modified his first van so that it could no longer be used for the carriage of passengers.

Mr Fenech had carried out such conversion, but was subsequently told by the ADT that no permit would be issued on the basis of its policies.

In February 1996 Mr Fenech contested the decision before the courts and in March 2001 the First Hall of the Civil Court had upheld his claim and had revoked the ADT's decision.

The regulator again refused to issue a permit to Mr Fenech even after the court judgment arguing that when he had applied for a permit it was not the ADT's policy to issue permits for vans such as his.

Mr Justice Mallia declared that in neither of the two court cases had the ADT produced any evidence of the existence of its alleged policies. The regulator could not base its decisions on policies that resulted only from hearsay. Nor could policies be formulated on the basis of past practices. A policy decision had to be taken on the basis of scientific and comprehensive studies of the situation.

In conclusion, the court found there was no objective reason for the permit not to be issued to Mr Fenech. The ADT, the court ruled, had acted in bad faith and had caused Mr Fenech to suffer damages. It was thus ordered to pay him Lm54,000 in damages.