Seven co-owners of a Senglea apartment, requisitioned in late 1986 and subsequently demolished as part of a slum-clearing project to make way for social housing, were awarded €34,000 in damages and expenses.

The owner told the European Court of Human Rights the property, which they had inherited, had been demolished at some point between March and September 1989. They took the case to Strasbourg three years ago after seeking redress in the Maltese courts.

They complained they had suffered a de facto expropriation on grounds that the flat had been demolished abusively and that a yearly recognition rent of €158.40 and the award of moral damages to the tune of €1,500 had not made up for the breach they suffered. They also argued they had been deprived of their property and, for 30 years, had not yet received any compensation while they had to disburse costs in litigation.

The Strasbourg Court agreed with the Constitutional Court in Malta and noted that the demolition took place before the apartment was taken over by the State under title of possession and use in terms of a declaration by the President in late October 1989, when the government had simply occupied the property without any title to it. Thus, the demolition was unlawful, it decreed.

The government had simply occupied the property without any title to it

It decided that, in such circumstances, there was no point considering whether the demolition pursued a legitimate aim or whether the measure was proportionate. The European judges hearing the case also pointed out that the owners had not been compensated in any way for the unlawful demolition of their property.

However, although the decision to demolish the place was not in line with the law, the way in which the property was eventually taken over by the State was correct and pursued a public interest, it remarked. Still, the court went on, such measures had not been applied in a fair manner.

The Strasbourg Court, thus, found there had been a violation of the right to protection of one’s property. It awarded the owners a total of €18,000 in pecuniary damage, another €8,500 in moral damages and €7,500 to cover costs and expenses.

Chief Justice Emeritus Vincent De Gaetano was among the seven European Court judges hearing the case.