The Justice Ministry has dodged questions about whether it will be taking the General Workers' Union to court for breaching conditions of a government lease, more than one year after the Auditor General recommended that it do so. 

According to a contract signed in 1997, the GWU’s headquarters can only be rented out to entities in which it has at least 51 per cent shareholding.

However, an investigation by the National Audit Office revealed that state utility company ARMS Limited, Sciacca Grill and Vjaġġi Untours were occupying part of the GWU headquarters despite the union not being their majority shareholder.

A wider analysis of the matter is called for

Though the NAO had recommended the government to take the union to court, Justice Minister Owen Bonnici was not entirely convinced and had in turn sought the advice of the Attorney General.

By law, a breach of the Land Disposal Act is a criminal offence and may result in a fine of up to €2,329, imprisonment not exceeding six months, or both.

However, as months passed no further pronouncements were made on the case, fuelling speculation that government was reluctant to take its long-time historical ally to court. Meanwhile, the Times of Malta in recent weeks enquired with the Justice Minister, on what court of action was the government taking, but by the time of writing no reply was received.

Up to last March, the government was insisting that it was still waiting for the Attorney General’s advice, with Dr Bonnici telling this newspaper that it wanted to conduct another analysis beyond the legal field.

According to the Justice Minister, a court ruling on this particular case could have wide-ranging implications on other government-leased property.

“Therefore, indications are that a wider analysis of the matter stretching also beyond the legal field is called for,” Dr Bonnici had said. At the time no details were divulged if this further analysis had started.

The building in Valletta’s South Street, known as the Workers Memorial Building, was granted to the GWU in 1957 to be used for trade union purposes. In 1997, the lease agreement was amended to allow some areas to be used for commercial purposes so long as the union held the majority of shares in the companies making use of those parts being rented out.

During the course of the NAO probe, the GWU and the government had agreed to render the property freehold, with the union redeeming the ground against the sum of €16,000. Though the union argued that this agreement had relieved it of the original contractual obligations, the NAO as well as the AG’s office threw out this argument, stating that the original conditions still stood.