The defence counsel on behalf of Angelo Zahra had requested a Constitutional Reference before the Court of Magistrates as a Court of Criminal Inquiry, claiming that the applicant’s right to a fair trial within a reasonable time is being breached. 18 years after arresting Zahra back in 2001, the Prosecution has not yet brought forward...

The First Hall Civil Court (Constitutional Jurisdiction) ordered the Attorney General to pay Oliver Grima the sum of €3,000 in moral damages, after deciding that the proceedings before the Court of Magistrates Court of Appeal took an unreasonable amount of time to be concluded. The criminal proceedings against the applicant were instituted by the Police...

On January 1, 2020, the Private Residential Leases Act [Chapter 604 of the Laws of Malta] came into force. The Act APPLIES to private residential leases that are entered into or renewed on or after the above-mentioned date. Leases that were granted after June 1, 1995 and that are still in force after January 1,...

On the 14th of October, 2019, Finance Minister Edward Scicluna delivered the Malta Budget 2020 speech. The highlights of the speech were: A. Leave and Wages COLA increase of €3.49 per weekSpecial one-off bonus to make up for milk and bread price increases. Single person households will get €15 and other households will get €35....

A person who claims to be the victim of a crime has a right to appoint a lawyer to assist him or her in the criminal proceedings instituted in respect of that crime. This right was introduced by Act III of 2002 and the latitude given to a lawyer so appointed is very wide. In...

In a judgement delivered on the 25th September 2019, the Court of Criminal Appeal helped us understand further what is tantamount to harassment. The parte civile in these proceedings carried out their business activities in close proximity to the residence of the accused. The business activities referred to a warehouse used by an import/export company...

Double taxation may occur in the form of economic double taxation when tax is charged on the same income but on different taxpayers. Economic double taxation is not restricted to double taxation on an international level but may occur in the same jurisdiction. On the other hand, double taxation on the same income in two...

The law recognises two types of persons – natural and legal. The former are of course human beings to whom criminal law attributes criminal responsibility for actions that violate norms, the breach of which would result in criminal sanctions. Legal persons, on the other hand, are all those to whom the law attributes a separate...

Government shall be implementing legislation that will provide a Rental Market Reform addressing accessibility to the rental market. The law seeks to ensure stability and predictability through various incentives, which include establishing a minimum rent period, formal registration of Rent Agreements and fiscal advantages for the landlord. The following are a few of the reforms...

The First Hall Civil Court (Constitutional Jurisdiction) ordered the Attorney General to pay Antonio Gatt the sum of €10,000 in moral damages, after deciding that the criminal proceedings against Antonio Gatt, which ended up in him being declared not guilty of all the charges brought against him, took an unreasonable amount of time to be...