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Seven co-owners of a Senglea apartment, requisitioned in late 1986 and subsequently demolished as part of a slum-clearing project to make way for social housing, were awarded €34,000 in damages and expenses. The owner told the European Court of Human RightOwners win damages for demolished Senglea flat
Seven co-owners of a Senglea apartment, requisitioned in late 1986 and subsequently demolished as part of a slum-clearing project to make way for social housing, were awarded €34,000 in damages and expenses. The owner told the European Court of Human Rights the property, which they had inherited, had been demolished at some point between March and September 1989. They took the case to Strasbourg three years ago after seeking redress in the Maltese courts. They complained they had suffered a de facto expropriation on grounds that the flat had been demolished abusively and that a yearly recognition rent of €158.40 and the award of moral damages to the tune of €1,500 had not made up for the breach they suffered. They also argued they had been deprived of their property and, for 30 years, had not yet received any compensation while they had to disburse costs in litigation. The Strasbourg Court agreed with the Constitutional Court in Malta and noted that the demolition took place before the apartment was taken over by the State under title of possession and use in terms of a declaration by the President in late October 1989, when the government had simply occupied the property... Read more
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