Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1428470
13 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 14 NOVEMBER 2021 NEWS MATTHEW AGIUS A court has awarded a total of over €1 million in compensation to the owner of a Valletta property which was subjected to a controlled lease. The late Baron Carmel Apap Bo- logna Sceberras d'Amico Inguan- ez had filed a Constitutional case against the State Advocate and N Caruana & Sons Ltd, asking for damages due to loss of income from lease. The 631sq.m property, subdivided into other properties, has entranc- es on St. Paul's Street and Mer- chants Street. It was leased to the Caruana family in 1964 at Lm400 per year for the Merchants Street entrance and Lm100 per year for the St. Paul's Street entrance. The lease was later assigned to the company N Caruana & Sons Ltd, which is owned by the same family. In July 1964, the parties had agreed that the lease was to last four years, but the plaintiff re- mained bound by the old rent laws to renew the lease at the same rate over a period of years. It was only in 2009 that the State recognised the prejudice the plain- tiff had suffered, and established a definitive date for the termination of the lease and increased the rent. However the plaintiff complained that he had suffered serious preju- dice by the lack of fair balance be- tween the public need and the pri- vate right to enjoyment of personal property. Defendants N Caruana & Sons Ltd argued that the rent was legal and the amount had been increas- ing since January 2010. The rent was protected up till 2028, they said, arguing that they also had a right of first preference on any fu- ture lease. The State Advocate said the lease agreement was entered into volun- tarily and in full knowledge of the legal regime applicable at the time. In May 2021, the courts declared that the law had violated the plain- tiff's right to enjoy his personal property and awarded €560,000 as pecuniary and non-pecuniary dam- ages for the breach of his rights for the period 1987 to 2019, ordering the State Advocate to pay the dam- ages. Apap Bologna filed an appeal from this judgment, requesting the court award damages which would continue to accrue until he is able to take back the property. The Constitutional Court, in a judgment handed down earlier this month, ruled that the amount of pecuniary damages awarded by the first court was too low. "It is true that compensation due is not necessarily equivalent to the full rental amount receivable on the free marked where the inter- ference in question was justified by the general public interest…. How- ever compensation must still be proportional to the actual damages suffered," said the court. The compensation awarded by the first court, representing around 15% of the loss suffered, doesn't make good for the excessive bur- den imposed on the plaintiff by the old law. The judges recognised that this case did not deal with social ac- commodation or safeguarding of vulnerable people from homeless- ness, and that the justification of the protection of commercial leas- es had reduced over time. The court refused to grant com- pensation for the period of time until the plaintiff got back posses- sion of the property after the judg- ment, ruling that doing so would be speculative. In view of this, the court established a percentage of 20% for the award of damages. Other deductions were made due to the failure of the plaintiff to evict some of the tenants who were not maintaining the property. After deducting these amounts the court established a total sum of €1,073,000 in damages due, plus interest. The appellant was to bear a quarter of the costs of the case, with the rest being suffered by the State Advocate. Lawyers Mark Attard Montalto and Douglas Aquilina appeared for Carmel Apap Bologna. Baron's heirs get €1 million for rent-controlled Valletta property Tolu said that, if anything, the party has been stronger since the merger, adding that there was a renewed sense of energy with- in for all those involved. "We have a lot of strong voices from people like myself and Sandra Gauci who focus more on social is- sues, to others within the party who cham- pion for classical green values. Like most parties, ADPD is a broad spectrum." As a member of the LGBT community, Tolu said they were delighted to see more members getting involved in politics. "One thing I want to get across is that we belong in politics, and always have – myself, I've never worried about the exposure politics brings because I've been visible my whole life; be- cause of my appearance, I don't blend, and even before I got into politics, I was active championing for LGBT rights, and I have to say the feedback I've gotten is mostly posi- tive," they said. In fact, Tolu said some of the worst expe- riences they have gone through had more to do with how visible they were during the spring hunting referendum than when they talk about LGBT rights. Tolu said they even had received violent threats, including rape threats. When handling people who may not un- derstand or not wish to understand, Tolu said that they choose which path they take depending on who they are talking to. "I ex- pect more from politicians and the media than I do when I go do house visits. I mean, I myself did not start questioning norms un- til I came out, so I understand not everyone has had that privilege of been part of a com- munity that allows them to question those norms." Tolu also said that there are a lot of people who do not understand the law or their own rights – so the way they handle home visits or even people within their own community is with patience. "I am privileged that I can understand the law; not everyone has that ability. It's been five years since the gender identity law was put into place, and a lot of people with- in the transgender community still don't know their rights let alone people outside the community. Still five years on, we're still trying to educate – the work is never-end- ing, and it's often not seen because it's not flashy Instagram activism." lcalleja@mediatoday.com.mt The transgender candidates contesting in the next general election: left, Mina Jack Tolu (ADPD), right, Kass Mallia (Volt), and below, Attard deputy mayor Alex Mangion (PN)