Forced arbitration imposed by law in traffic collision cases is in violation of an individual's fundamental human right to a fair hearing, a court ruled today.

In a judgment delivered in the First Hall of the Civil Court following a constitutional application by Joseph Muscat against the Prime Minister, the Minister for Justice and the Attorney General, Mr Justice Geoffrey Valenzia said that although the law provided for an appeal from an arbitration award, this was limited to points of law.

Therefore, a person subjected to a forced, as opposed to voluntary, arbitration was deprived of his right to have his case examined by an independent and impartial court.

Mr Muscat told the court that he had been involved in a traffic accident in 2007 and that he was being sued for damages by an insurance company using forced arbitration in terms of the Arbitration Act.

In his application he said that the arbitration provided for by this law in traffic collision cases was forced so the arbiter was fulfilling the role of a tribunal in terms of law.

According to Mr Muscat this forced arbitration did not provide him with a fair hearing by an impartial and independent tribunal and he requested the court to declare the forced arbitration proceedings null and void.

The court found in favour of Mr Muscat and Mr Justice Valenzia ordered a copy of the judgment to be sent to the House of Representatives.