A couple yesterday filed a constitutional case claiming a breach of human rights over the expropriation of private land by local government to build a road.

The couple, Paul and Jane Magri, own a small stretch of land that lies between Valletta Road and the fields in Qormi known as Tal-Għadira. Other field owners usedthe land as a passage to access their land, the couple said.

In 1994, while public works were going on nearby, the workers took it upon themselves to put concrete over this passage but other than that nothing else was done by the authorities to their land, they said.

During pending proceedings about another stretch of land owned by the couple, the Qormi local council expressed the view that the passage in question was government-owned and public, when this was not the case, the couple said.

The council applied for the passage to be included in an existing road and the planning board ruled in favour.

The couple asked the constitutional court to declare that their human right had been breached and that the decision by the planning board was null. They also asked for compensation for this breach.

Lawyer Joe Brincat appeared for the couple.