Maltapost has been ordered by the courts to replace over €23,800 worth of stamps which had been purchased before the local currency was replaced by the Euro.

Mr Justice Anthony Ellul delivered this judgment in a case filed by John Curtin against Maltapost plc.

Mr Curtin told the court that he owned Lm10,221.62 of Malta liri denominated stamps and that he had asked Maltapost to exchange them with Euro denominated stamps of the equivalent value.

The request was made in February 2008 after a government notice issued in November 2007 provided that Lm denominated stamps could be exchanged provided that an application was filed with Maltapost between February 1 and March 31 2008.

But Maltapost had refused Mr Curtin's request on the basis that the stamps he held had been purchased from philatelic sources. 

In today's judgment the court noted that the government notice stipulated that stamps printed or sold for purposes of philately were excluded from the exchange scheme.

Mr Curtin had testified that the majority of the stamps in his possession had been purchased from a philatelic agency. However there was nothing to indicate that the stamps could only be used for philatelic purposes.

The court therefore concluded that Maltapost had failed to adhere to the conditions of the government notice. Maltapost was given 40 days within which to exchange Mr Curtin's stamps for stamps with a total value of €23,809.97

Dr Ian Micallef was counsel to Mr Curtin.