A judge yesterday rejected a request by Maltco to stop the Malta Lotteries and Gaming Authority from proceeding with a call for tenders to run the national lottery.

Mr Justice Joseph Zammit McKeon, sitting in the First Hall of the Civil Court, delivered this decree following an application filed by Maltco Lotteries Ltd against the gaming regulator and the Finance Minister.

Maltco told the court that in July 2004 it had been granted a licence to operate the national lottery for seven years, which expired last July. Before the expiration of the licence, it had asked for an extension, which was granted for just one year, up to July 2012.

Last October, the authorities issued a call for tenders for the concession of the rights to run the national lottery. Maltco was contesting this call and its case is pending before the First Hall of the Civil Court. It then applied for the issue of a warrant of prohibitory injunction to stop the regulator and the government from ­awarding the national lottery contract.

Mr Justice Zammit McKeon noted that in order to halt the call for tenders, the court had to be satisfied that the applicant had a prima facie right that had to be protected. This was an essential element that had to be satisfied in law.

The judge found Maltco did not have such a right on a prima facie basis. It was clear that the call for tenders related to the period after July 2012, when Maltco’s contract, as extended, was due to terminate. Maltco enjoyed rights in respect of the national lottery up to that date but not later.

The court concluded that an essential element for the issue of the warrant was lacking.