Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1493590
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 26 FEBRUARY 2023 11 LAW CLASSIFIEDS THE Parties who file claims and pleas must prove to the Court their respective po- sitions. This was held in a judgement delivered by the Magistrates Court, presided by Dr Nadine Lia, on 22 Feb- ruary 2023. The case is Thom- as Djafari et -v- TRC Family Entertainment Limited. The Plaintiffs, consisting of 4 former employees of the Defendant company, claimed in their application that they were owed €13,785 represent- ing their salaries for Septem- ber 2014. TRC filed a statement of de- fence claiming that the action was time-barred in terms of Article 2147(c) of the Civ- il Code and that the plaintiff is to explain their claim. The plea of prescription was chal- lenged a number of times, and there were several preliminary judgements from the Magis- trates' Court and the Court of Appeal. The Court analysed the evi- dence brought before it. The Plaintiffs explained that they were employees of the Defend- ant company. Their employ- ment was terminated, and they were paid for the months they worked, except for September 2014. Their jobs were termi- nated because of collective re- dundancy. They were assured that they would be paid in full. They received an email in Au- gust 2014 stating that all their salaries would be paid accord- ing to law. Djafari, in his affidavit, ex- plained that the company's financial problems became ap- parent when in June 2014, they did not receive their salaries. The explanation was given at first that there was a prob- lem with the payroll system. The Director of the Defend- ant company had a skype call with Djafari in October 2014 and received assurance that he would be paid. He further explained a complaint with the Department of Industry and Employment Relations by several TRC employees. In- advertently his claim was not included in the proceedings DIER had instituted. Another Plaintiff, Brian Glass, explained that there was an email exchange with the company's lawyers, to whom he passed on his bank details. He further explained that he was owed wages from June to September but was paid for everything apart for Septem- ber 2014. Jasmin Bonshor, another plaintiff, explained that she did work in September 2014 but was not paid, irrespective of the fact that top manage- ment assured her of payment in full. A Director of the compa- ny testified that the company fell into financial difficulties, irrespective of the fact that it had won cases against the in- vestor of the company. This judgement were not enforced. The Director claimed to have co-operated with DIER and made payments to the Plain- tiffs. The Court explained the legal position of the case. The pleas of prescriptions were rejected in preliminary judgements. The second plea of the compa- ny concerned the merits of the claim. The Court concluded that the company is not stating that the amounts are not due. The Court, therefore, must examine the evidence to see whether the claims are true. In Joseph Tonna -v- Philip Azzopardi, decided on 12 April 2007 by the Court of Appeal, states that the onus of proof is on the Parties. The plaintiff must prove its claim, while the defendant has to prove that the claim is non-existent. On the other hand, the Plaintiffs were successful in proving their claim. The Defendant compa- ny did take a passive stance as it failed to produce evidence to rebut these claims and that their salaries were paid. The Court then moved to dismiss the Defendant Com- pany's pleas and upheld the Plaintiffs' claims. The parties must prove the claims against each other LAW REPORT MALCOLM MIFSUD Mifsud & Mifsud Advocates CLASSIFIEDS INFO @MEDIATODAY.COM.MT HOLIDAY ACCOMMODATION MARSALFORN, Gozo - holiday apart- ments for short or long lets with mag- nificent sea-views. 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