MEPA wins case against prohibitory injunctions

Two decrees delivered by the First Hall of the Landmark Court have been delivered in favour of Malta Environment Planning Authority against land-owners who separately presented prohibitory injunctions to stop the Authority from taking direct action against illegalities on their respective sites.

The decisions handed down by Magistrate Mark Chetcuti are a follow-up on from a landmark decision taken earlier this year by the Chief Justice Silvio Camilleri.

The Authority cited a section of the Environment and Planning Act in response to the injunctions present which states that “no precautionary act may be issued by any court against the Authority restraining it from the exercise of any of the powers conferred upon it by the law during a direct action procedure”.

The Court gave considerable weight to the cited article and focused its decision on this merit according to MEPA. 

All three decisions ruled that contravenors of any illegal development do not have a right to present to the courts a prohibitory injunction against MEPA, in cases were the Authority is carrying out direct actions according to the provisions of the law.

This ruling applies both in cases where contravenors would have exhausted all the provisions given by law and even in cases were the person chooses not to.

“The Authority positively welcomes these decisions as they lessen the obstacles for the enforcement directorate within MEPA to continue to effectively and decisively carry out direct action operations against land owners that ignore the environment and planning regulations,” MEPA said.