The removal of the Magic Kiosk in Sliema was yesterday temporarily stopped after a court upheld a request by owner Joseph Pace pending a final decision on the matter later this month.

Brittania Catering Company Ltd filed a constitutional application on December 22 against the Director of the Land Department, the Ministry of Public Works and the Malta Environment and Planning Authority.

Mr Pace is claiming that the removal of the Magic Kiosk was in violation of the company's fundamental human rights.

A few days later he also applied for the issue of a warrant of prohibitory injunction and the court set the hearing for January 16.

During yesterday's hearing to decide upon whether or not a provisional warrant of prohibitory injunction should be issued, Mr Justice Geoffrey Valenzia decided to uphold the request because there was a pending constitutional case and also because a hearing on the request to issue a permanent warrant of prohibitory injunction had not yet taken place. Lawyer Tonio Azzopardi, appearing for Mr Pace, told the court that the hearing regarding the warrant of prohibitory injunction was set to be heard on January 16 and while waiting for the case to be heard the government forged ahead and dismantled the building.

He added that dismantling works started at 5.30 a.m. last Friday and carried on until Sunday evening in a bid to ensure that the whole structure would be removed.

Dr Azzopardi said the Land Department had challenged the court's authority by going ahead with the dismantling of the kiosk even though there were pending proceedings.

He added that Mr Pace never expected this type of treatment from the Land Department and insisted that the department took the law into its own hands.

Lawyer Peter Grech, for the Land Department, said it was a fact that the two lease contracts covering the kiosk had expired. The land effectively belonged to the public and, therefore, Mr Pace had no jurisdiction over the property.

Dr Azzopardi said that at this point in time the argument was that the Land Department went ahead with the work even though there were pending court cases.