There is no legal basis for the complaint lodged by the Labour Party over a breach of data protection laws in the case of its leased club in Siggiewi, according to legal experts.
The party filed a complaint with the Data Protection Commissioner claiming that Siggiewi's Nationalist deputy mayor Karol Aquilina had breached the law when researching the case that led to a refusal to renew the lease of the party's club in the village.
The PL said the case was driven by partisan motives and that Dr Aquilina was given information on the lease which was due for renewal in June.
The Labour Party said the ease with which Dr Aquilina managed to obtain information which is not available to third parties from a government department was "scandalous" and breached data protection laws.
However, according to a legal expert the Data Protection Act aims solely to protect a person's right to privacy - it even defines 'personal data' as 'any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person'. When contacted, a PL spokesman said the Data Protection Commissioner was investigating the case and had asked the complainants to provide further details.
The party also said the complaint was filed by individuals: "The PL is informed that the complaint to the Data Protection Department was lodged by the Siggiewi club secretary and the president on a personal basis since they are legal representatives of the club."
But a lawyer who specialises in data protection law said there is still no legal basis for such a complaint.
"A company always needs an individual to sign a contract, but the individual does so on behalf of the company. Whoever signed the contract did so on behalf of the party.
The property was transferred to the party, or an arm of the party, and the argument cannot be made as individuals. Otherwise this can only mean that the property was actually leased to individuals.
"There is no violation of any individual's privacy in a possible transfer of information related to that contract. At worst, there may be a question of confidentiality, but not one of data protection," he said.
The case did shed light on the details surrounding the Labour Party's acquisition of this prime property in St Nicholas Square. It was leased to the PL on the eve of the 1981 general election for Lm200 (€465) a year.
In February 1987, three months before another general election, the government extended the lease for 24 years, backdated to July 1986, Dr Aquilina said.
The government decided to hand over the building in the heart of the village square to the Siggiewi council for use as a day centre for the elderly, after the council approved a motion spearheaded by Dr Aquilina.