Manoel loses restaurant in court judgment

A Valletta property being used as the Manoel Theatre's bar and restaurant is to be returned to its original owner by order of the Constitutional Court.

The court yesterday ruled that the owner's rights had been violated when commercial use was made of her property which had been acquired by the government under title of possession and use.

Agnes Gera de Petri Testaferrata Bonici Ghaxaq had claimed, in 1996, that in 1958 the government had taken property belonging to her family (and that she had later inherited in 1988) under title of possession and use.

The property was adjacent to the Manoel Theatre in Valletta.

The government had not made use of it for many years until in 1975 it decided to join it to the Manoel Theatre. The property was then administered by the Manoel Theatre Management Committee (MTMC), but the court found that the MTMC had not been given any legal title to it.

In the mid-1990s, the MTMC entered into an agreement with a private company so that the latter would operate a restaurant and bar from Ms Gera de Petri Testaferrata Bonici Ghaxaq's property.

This company paid the MTMC Lm500 per annum for the use of the property together with five per cent of the total income generated from it. The company also made use of the property for functions.

The Constitutional Court agreed with the First Hall of the Civil Court that the allocation of the property to the MTMC had taken place in the public interest, for the committee had been provided with office premises and with the space to promote cultural activities.

But the court added that once the government had not fully acquired the property, the public interest had to be satisfied for the entire period during which the government controlled the property.

If there was no such public interest, then there was no legitimate basis for the interference on the part of the state in the property owner's rights.

In this case, the Constitutional Court confirmed that there was a violation of the owner's rights to enjoyment of her property as she was being made to carry a disproportionate burden for the sake of the public interest.

The court added that this property had been valued, in 1998, as being worth Lm800,000, but that the government had, to date, only offered Ms Gera de Petri Testaferrata Bonici Ghaxaq Lm210 per annum.

This compensation was offered despite the fact that the MTMC was receiving an income of between Lm5,000 and Lm6,000 per annum from the property due to the commercial use that was underway.

The Constitutional Court, composed of Chief Justice Vincent Degaetano, Mr Justice Joseph D. Filletti and Mr Justice Joseph D. Camilleri, therefore, confirmed the findings of the first court that the owner's rights had been violated.

The court ordered the revocation of the order of possession and use in respect of the property and that it be released to the owner.

The court also reserved the owner's rights to seek compensation for the loss of use of the property.