Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1512576
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 3 DECEMBER 2023 11 LAW CLASSIFIEDS THE law provides that interest should be added to the com- pensation given from the date when the government offered the compensation following an expropriation of the land. This was held by the Lands Arbitration Board on 28 No- vember 2023 in Clover Hold- ings Ltd. et vs Lands Authori- ty. The Board was presided by Magistrate Dr Noel Bartolo. The applicant company and others held that they are owners of a property at Bajja tal-Ġnejna limits of Mġarr. On 1 December 2002, a notice was published in the Govern- ment Gazette that a small por- tion of this land was expropri- ated. The Authority valued this parcel of land at €614.95. The Applicants did not accept this value and asked the Board to establish the correct compen- sation. The Lands Authority filed a statement of defence and stood firm that the correct value of the property was €614.95. The Board analysed the ev- idence, where a witness from the Authority stated their valu- ation was based on the fact that the land was agricultural land. The Applicants presented an ex parte architect's report say- ing that the land in question was worth €4,950, since the rate is €35 every square metre. The Board then appointed two architects as technical mem- bers of the Board, who then presented a report. It described the land in question as forming part of the parking. The Lo- cal Plan indicates that the land is outside development zone overlooking the sea. The land today is being used as a parking area and a toilet. The Board looked at a Court of Appeal judgment in the case Efrem Vella v Lands Authority that decided agricultural land at Smart city was valued in 2005 at €31 per square metre. The technical members valued the property at €6,930 at €35 per square metre. The technical members of the Board said that they did take into consideration the expert reports of each of the parties. Article 64 of the Government Lands Act states that the own- ers may file an application be- fore the Board to receive com- pensation of the land which was expropriated. The compensa- tion should reflect the value of the land when it was expropri- ated. The action should have four elements. The first that the declaration should have taken place before the enactment of Government Lands Act, that the government is in possession of the land, that the Applicant must have a valid title over the land. The fourth element is that there is no agreement on the compensation. From the evidence produced, the Declaration was issued be- fore the enactment of the Gov- ernment Lands Act. Further- more, there is no dispute on the title that the Applicants hold. The Board pointed out that there were two declarations, one before the coming into force of Government Lands Act in March 2002 and the other in November 2003. The Board quoted from a decision deliv- ered on 30 January 2023 in the names John Zammit Gauci vs Lands Authority. In this case the Board held that the term used in Article 64 "within the period of the publication of the Declaration …", the law referred to when the expropriation pro- cedure kicked off. The Board in that case held that the value of the property should be taken upon the first Declaration. In this case the first Declaration took place in March 2002. As to the value of the proper- ty, the Board carried out a com- parison between the different valuation of the same property and the different years. The dis- crepancy between the ex parte experts force the Board accept those of the technical mem- bers. The Board quoted from two decisions Andrew Agius et vs Director Roads Department et decided by the Court of Ap- peal and Alfred Cremona et vs Commissioner for Lands de- cided by the Board on 2 March 2018, where the valuations car- ried out by the technical mem- bers constituted an important evidence. As to the interest, the Board quoted Article 66 (1) of the Government Lands Act: "66.(1) In the cases referred to in articles 64 and 65, the own- er also has the right to receive interest with the simple rate of eight per cent on the compen- sation that has been established by the Arbitration Board as updated during the years in ac- cordance to the index of infla- tion published in the schedule of the Housing (Decontrol) Or- dinance and this interest shall start accruing from the date when the Declaration has been published". Therefore, interest starts when the Lands Authority of- fered compensation from the first time and that was in 2002. 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