Appeal court confirms MADC's title of lease in Santa Venera

The Court of Appeal yesterday fully confirmed a judgment of the First Hall of the Civil Court which had ruled that the MADC had a valid title of lease to the old NAAFI premises at Santa Venera.

The first court heard that the premises were leased by its temporary emphyteuta, Emanuel Azzopardi, in 1957 to the Masks Amateur Dramatic Club (MADC) for an annual rent of €466.

After the expiry of the temporary emphyteusis in favour of Mr Azzopardi, the original owners, the ecclesiastical authorities and later the present owners, Francis Busuttil & Sons Limited (FBS), refused to recognise the lease. FBS filed its action in the First Hall of the Civil Court requesting that the premises revert to it on the basis that the MADC did not have a valid title. This was disputed by MADC.

The First Hall of the Civil Court dismissed the company's request and FBS appealed to the Court of Appeal composed of Chief Justice Vincent Degaetano, Mr Justice Joseph D Camilleri and Mr Justice Joseph Filletti.

On appeal the court heard that the Metropolitan Cathedral Administration Council had acknowledged the title of the MADC and had accepted payment of rent. But the Metropolitan Cathedral was not vested with sufficient authority for it had not obtained authorisation to so do from the Curia. Any acceptance of rent by the Metropolitan Cathedral lacked the sanction of the Curia and was clearly done by mistake. The court referred to case law which held that the acceptance of rent by mistake was not an acknowledgment of a title of lease.

What the court had to decide was whether the lease had been made under fair conditions at the time when the lease was granted in 1957. The lease agreement was to be considered as a whole and one unfair condition in the lease did not render the entire agreement unfair.

The Court of Appeal agreed with the first court that the conditions in the lease to the MADC were not unfair except for one clause permitting automatic renewals of the lease. The rent was also acceptable in the light of the rental market in 1957. The renewal clause was deemed to be null but this did not affect the validity of the whole agreement.

The Court of Appeal therefore upheld the first court's judgment and dismissed FBS's claims.