Court throws out Magic Kiosk case

A court has dismissed a constitutional application filed by the company that operated the former Magic Kiosk which complained of a violation of its rights when the kiosk was demolished and the square turned over for public use earlier this year.

The judge ruled that the company had no legal interest in the suit because the deeds granting it the land had lapsed.

In a constitutional application against the Land Department, the Ministry of Public Works and Mepa, Britannia Catering Company Ltd said it had been granted two different portions of land in St Anne Square, Sliema by two deeds of temporary emphytheusis.

The deeds, entered into in 1976 and in 1979, lapsed in December 2008 and February 2004, respectively.

The company said the Ministry of Public Works had submitted an application to Mepa in 2008 for the refashioning of the square and for the removal of the Magic Kiosk.

Britannia complained that it had not been involved with, or notified of this application despite the fact that it was the operator of the Magic Kiosk. This was a going concern which belonged to the company and not to the government.

The company claimed that its right to a fair hearing and to freedom from discrimination had been violated. It further claimed that its right to peaceful possession of property had been breached.

However, Mr Justice Joseph Zammit McKeon, sitting in first hall of the civil court, ruled that Britannia had no juridical interest in the case.

The court pointed out that both deeds of temporary emphytheusis had stipulated that on the lapse of the grants, the site and any buildings constructed there were to revert to the government without any right of compensation on the part of the company.

This notwithstanding, the company had remained in occupation of the site and of the Magic Kiosk after the deeds had lapsed. If a person filed a court action, that person had to have a legal interest in the case at all of its stages. In this case, once the agreements had lapsed, the company had no legal interest in the case, the court ruled.