European Court orders government to pay over €287,000 damages

The European Court has ordered the Maltese government to pay €287,285 in damages to Anna Fleri Soler and Herbert Camilleri in compensation for the requisitioning of a property in Valletta.

The two had demanded compensation for the period between 1995 and 2007 when the property was released. It had been requisitioned since the war years.

In a first judgment, the court had held that there had been a violation of human rights with regard to a requisition order imposed on the applicants for almost 65 years, creating a landlord-tenant relationship under which they received only a small amount of rent and a minimal profit, so that they had to bear a disproportionate and excessive burden.

The applicants did not seek compensation for the period between 1967 (the date when the European Convention on Human Rights came into force in respect of Malta) but instead sought compensation for damages incurred between 1995 and 2007 when the government had released the property at issue.

The court found that there was a considerable discrepancy between the applicants' claims for compensation and the amount offered by the government.

According to the court's own calculation, based on the government's reasoning, the balance and, therefore, the sum offered by the government for pecuniary damage was incorrect.

While the applicants' submissions could be reasonably considered to reflect an acceptable valuation of the rental value on the market over the years, the government's proposal reflected a purely token sum, which did not seem to take into account the factual reality of the size of the building and its prime location, the court said.

It felt that the events in question entailed serious interference with the applicants' right to the peaceful enjoyment of their possessions.

The court, therefore, awarded the applicants €279,525 in respect of pecuniary damage and €8,150, plus any tax, in respect of non-pecuniary damage.

Lawyer Joseph Brincat appeared for the applicants.