Dr Cedric Mifsud vs l-avukat ġenerali

Abstract

Plaintiffs (Bezzina) were the owners of a house in Gharghur. The property was given to defendants (Azzopardi) under title of temporary emphyteusis which expired in August 1991. It was subsequently converted into a lease as per article 12(2) of Chapter 158. 2 Consequently, plaintiffs maintained that: 1) they were denied the right to enjoy their property, 2) the compensation provided for by law was disproportionate (the rent had to be twice as much as the ground rent) and 3) there was no effective remedy through which they could take back the property. As a result, they argued that this was a breach of their rights as set out in article 37 of the Maltese Constitution and article 1 of Protocol 1 of the European Convention.