Bid to stop arbitration rejected

A couple who tried to stop their traffic collision case going to arbitration on grounds that it was anti-constitutional have lost their case after a judge threw out their request.

Jeanette Marie and Alexander Van Reeven had filed a request for the issue of a warrant of prohibitory injunction so that the court would stop two pending collision cases from being heard before the Malta Arbitration Centre.

They quoted a recent judgment in which the First Hall of the Civil Court found that forced arbitration imposed by law in traffic collision cases was in violation of an individual's fundamental human right to a fair hearing.

The judgment was delivered on May 29 following a constitutional application by Joseph Muscat against the Prime Minister, the Minister for Justice and the Attorney General.

The court declared forced arbitration anti-constitutional and the Prime Minister appealed the judgment. The Constitutional Court has yet to pronounce sentence.

In a judgment on the warrant, Mr Justice Albert Magri said that the Van Reevens' application was based on judicial procedures that have not yet finished. He added that because of this, their allegations remained allegations and nothing else and dismissed their application.