A law prohibiting a man from stopping the planning authority from demolishing a wall which had been in existence since at least 1968 was unconstitutional and should be amended immediately, lawyers David Camilleri and Jose Herrera claimed this morning.

The claim was made in a constitutional application against the Prime Minister, the Attorney General and Mepa by Tarcisio Borg of Rabat, the owner of a field in Bahrija.

Mr Borg claimed that his field had been surrounded by rubble walls since at least 1968 as could be seen from aerial photos he exhibited.

In August, he had been restoring the walls when he was faced with an enforcement notice from Mepa threatening to tear walls down unless he removed them himself.

Mr Borg presented a warrant of prohibitory injunction in the civil courts but this was dismissed by the judge who invoked the law, now being claimed as unconstitutional.