Malta [Case 2 : contract promoting sex work]

Abstract

Mr Pioneer most likely will not be awarded his claim. Variation: Mr Pioneer would certainly not have a claim against Miss Pearl. Toe White Slave Traffic (Suppression) Ordinance (WSTO) specifically prohibits the leasing of any vehicle used for the purposes of sex work or other immoral purposes. Whether Mr Pioneer's conduct contravened this prohibition is questionable, since the original causa for letting his limousine was presumably valid. Maltese jurisprudence has held that where the lessor had contracted an immoral contract in good faith and subsequently discovered an illicit activity being carried out in his property, he or she could proceed to dissolve or rescind the contract of lease on the grounds of: (a) the change in "use" from the one that was originally contracted, and (b) the breach of obligation on the part of the lessee to make use of the thing leased as a bonus paterfamilias. [Excerpt]