A Syrian man who was married to a Maltese and acquired Maltese citizenship, has been refused a permit for his four children from a previous marriage to be able to live permanently in Malta.

The case was considered by the Constitutional Court after the man filed an application saying that the decision by the Department for Citizenship and Expatriates refusing a permit to his children, was discriminatory.

Ghasan Kaseb told the court that he was a Syrian national who had married a Maltese woman and obtained Maltese citizenship. His marriage broke up in 2002 and his four children from a previous marriage to a Syrian woman had come to live in Malta.

However the Department for Citizenship and Expatriates had insisted that the children leave Malta once their freedom of movement permit expired. This, said Mr Kaseb, was in violation of his right to family life and was discriminatory.

However, Mr Justice Lino Farrugia Sacco dismissed Mr Kaseb's application. Quoting from case law of the European Court, he pointed out that the obligation of the state was to respect family life. The state was not obliged to allow persons to claim a right to establish family life in a particular jurisdiction.

The state, the court added, was not obliged to respect the choice by married couples of their matrimonial residence. Nor was it obliged to accept the non-national spouses for settlement in the country.

The court further found that Mr Kaseb and his family had not been discriminated against.