A man challenging a decision by the Malta Transport Authority which turned down his request for renewal of his bus driver's licence, was again denied his claim after filing an appeal before the Administrative Review Tribunal.

James Agius had been informed by the Malta Transport Authority in December that his application was being rejected on grounds of his conviction for a traffic offence.

In December 2015, Mr Agius had been admonished by a magistrate's court after he was found guilty of driving without a valid licence and of failing to renew the licence when it expired.

The man had pleaded before the magistrate's court that it had actually slipped his mind to renew the licence. This had been taken into consideration by the court when handing down punishment.

Before the Administrative Review Tribunal, the Transport Authority argued that Mr Agius failed to satisfy one of the requirements for the possession of a driver's tag, namely that related to 'good conduct.'

An applicant was not deemed to be of good conduct if he was convicted of a traffic offence in the two-year period preceding his application, the authority explained.

The Administrative Review Tribunal, presided by magistrate Charmaine Galea, Alfred Perini and Andrew Sciberras, upheld the authority’s and observed that although a reprimand was a minimal punishment it implied a declaration of guilt.

Since this conviction meant that Mr Agius did not satisfy the 'good conduct ' requirement, the authority had been right in refusing to renew his tag, the tribunal declared.

Acknowledging that this decision could have serious repercussions, especially if the applicant for the tag was the sole breadwinner, it, however, declared that "the law does not leave room for any other interpretation”.

The tribunal ordered that a copy of the judgment be delivered to the Transport Minister so that the legislator might possibly remedy the situation.