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12 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 17 NOVEMBER 2024 OPINION & LAW Law Report AN agricultural lease may be paid by fruit or vegetables; however, the law dictates this must be mentioned in a written agreement. This was held in a judgment delivered by the Court of Appeal presided over by the Chief Justice Mark Chetcuti and Judges Robert Mangion and Grazio Mercieca. The judg- ment was delivered on 12 November 2024 in Joseph Bartolo et vs Nicholas Bartolo et. The case centred around the value of an undivided share of land left to the Defendant as a pre-legacy. The deceased, Filippa Barto- lo wrote in her will that the pre-legacy will have effect, when there would be valuations on the property subject to the pre-legacy. The valuation will take into consideration the date of the death of Filippa Bartolo. The pre-legatee will pay 11/12 to his siblings. This has to take place before the first anni- versary from her death. The First Hall of the Civil Court delivered a preliminary judgment on 28 October 2021 and decided that the Defendant did not have a title of rural lease on the land left by means of a legacy. As a consequence, the value of the land had to be made on the premise that the land was free and unencumbered. The First Hall of the Civil Court delivered another judgment on 13 March 2024, and based its findings on the expert appointed by the co-defendant Rose Agius who is the testamentary executor. The Court did not consider the valuation presented by Nicho- las Bartolo. In Nicholas Bartolo's appeal he argued that he was the tenant on the land and as such his valuation of the land was valid. The Court of Appeal went through the judgment of the court of first instance. The first Court explained that Filippa Bartolo is the mother and grandmother of the Plain- tiffs and she was one forth owner of land in Hal Qormi. The other three-fourths were owned by her siblings. Nicholas Bartolo worked the land for years. He had purchased the three-fourths share from his aunts. Fil- ippa Bartolo passed away on 14 March 2015 but had left two wills. In the will of October 2010, she left Nicholas Bartolo a pre-legacy of one-fourth of the land, as long as he pays his siblings their share. A valuation had to be made by a reputable and independent person. Nicholas Bartolo engaged an architect who valued the land at €28,000, meaning that one-fourth was €7,000. Rose Agius ap- pointed an architect to value the property. This architect gave two valuations. One was considering the property free and unencum- bered, €62,000. The second was with Nicho- las Bartolo as a tenant, €31,000. It is for this reason that the Plaintiff, Joseph Bartolo filed the action in order for the court to establish the value of the land. From the evidence produced it resulted that Nicholas Bartolo gave vegetables to Fil- ippa Bartolo. Furthermore, the Agriculture Department held that Nicholas Bartolo was registered as a farmer and presented the ag- ricultural leases book with the plans. Nich- olas Bartolo presented a declaration from the owners that he was authorised to build a room on the land. The Court commented that the intention of this declaration was not to receive compensation or to confirm that the land was rented to him. The contract where Nicholas Bartolo purchased shares in the property, did not mention that he was renting another portion of the same land. The Court pointed out that the first time Nicholas Bartolo mentioned that he was a tenant on the land, was when Rose Agius engaged an architect to value the land. The first court held that it was clear from reading the will that Filippa Bartolo wanted her children to be treated equally. The will mentioned that the valuation should be car- ried out as the property would have been free and unencumbered, therefore, even if Nicholas Bartolo had a title of agricultural lease, the valuation should not reflect this. Nicholas Bartolo argued that his payment of rent took the form of vegetables he gave his mother. Not all agreed this was a pay- ment. The Court quoted from a judgment hand- ed down by the Appeals Court on 3 Febru- ary 2012 in the case Grace Ragan vs Ema- nuel Mizzi, which held that Article 1532 of the Civil Code states that the payment by means of fruit and vegetables has to be spe- cifically agreed in writing. In this case the Court of Appeal did not accept that the fruit and vegetables were payment of rent. Nicholas appealed this judgment and ar- gued that the Plaintiffs never contested that there existed an agricultural lease and that this was registered with the Agricultural Department for over 50 years. The Court of Appeal held that this was not sufficient. The Court of Appeal held that the other children of Filippa Bartolo also gave their mother fruit and vegetables. The Court of Appeal held that if one had to argue that the agricultural lease existed, once Nicholas Bartolo's mother died, he became owner of the one-fourth undivided share of the land and therefore the lease was terminated. The Court then dismissed the appeal. Payment of rent by agricultural produce has to be subject to a written agreement LAW REPORT MALCOLM MIFSUD Mifsud & Mifsud Advocates Bernard Grech, the purveyor of fake news IT is becoming increasingly obvious that unable to articulate a vision of what it stands for, the Nationalist Party has re- sorted to fake news. The problem with the PN is that its cred- ibility is so low that people can easily see through it, and this latest attempt to resort to fake news is backfiring on the Opposi- tion party. Pensionable age Bernard Grech has put up billboards stating that all those born after 1976 must work an extra year to be eligible for a pen- sion. Fake news. Budget 2025 announced that those born on or after 1976 would need to pay social security contributions for 42 years to be eligible for a full pension. The limit is currently 41 years. The gov- ernment covers national insurance (NI) contributions for students and people in several other situations and they would therefore still be able to retire on a full pension at the age of 65, even if they had not been employed for 42 years. Those who started working aged 23 or under would likely not be impacted by the meas- ure because they would have comfortably paid 42 years of NI by the time they reach pensionable age. Peter's lie PN MEP, Peter Agius, was found to have made unfounded allegations following an investigation by OLAF, which found no abuse of European funds for the construc- tion of a sheep farm. OLAF certified it to be fake news. Grech and Agius never apol- ogised. Karol's fiction A government reform intended to give more rehabilitative opportunities to drug victims, while continuing to reform the laws to have effective justice with efficient procedures was described by PN MP Karol Aquilina as a reform intended to help drug traffickers. Fake news. The lie was repeat- ed by Bernard Grech. He always repeats after Karol Aquilina. He must. He doesn't have much of a choice. Cruel allegations Labour MP Carmelo Abela was the target of a cruel campaign implicating him in a hold-up at HSBC headquarters a few years back. Abela strongly rebutted the charges. The courts found in his favour. The dam- age and pain incurred by Carmelo and his family is unquantifiable. The PN, which made the allegations its own, never apol- ogised to Abela and his family. Double standards An education ministry circular to teachers is being spun by the PN to give the false impression that the government has recently decided to muzzle teachers from speaking to the press. Fake news. Educators are free to speak and express themselves however they like. This cir- cular has been in place since 2008 – a PN administration at the time – and it ask teachers to inform their immediate bosses when they are invited to speak on education in their professional capaci- ty. Another case of double standards by Bernard Grech's PN. A death at Mater Dei An independent inquiry was launched to investigate the death of Stephen Mangion, a 55-year-old police officer who died after allegedly being left waiting in Mater Dei Hospital's emergency room despite com- plaining of chest pain. The PN, through Adrian Delia, cried foul and asked for the Health Minister's and the Prime Minister's head. They dragged Mater Dei emergency health workers through the mud. The in- quiry has since concluded that no one was responsible for Mr Mangion's death, and nothing could have been done to avoid the death. No apologies from the PN. They moved on to their next fake news. That the PN has a flexible relationship with the truth has long been known. Under Bernard Grech's fragile leader- ship, it is now widely acknowledged to be the purveyor of fake news. Naomi Cachia is a Labour MP and government Whip Naomi Cachia