€610,000 in damages paid to band club property owners

The co-owners of the building housing the King’s Own Band Club in Valletta, were awarded €610,000 in damages after the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that the property owners were receiving rent that was below the market standard. 

The court said that the way the rent laws were drafted, the fundamental right to the peaceful enjoyment of property was being violated.

The four-storey building had been originally leased in the 1940s at an annual rent of £500, which was later converted to Lm500 (€1,164).

The property owners argued that the property’s annual rental market value was at €269,100 in 2014, a far cry from the amount they were receiving.

Lawyers Franco Vassallo and Joseph Camileri argued that, considering both the architectural and cultural value of the building, as well as current real estate prices, the rent their clients had been receiving was extremely low. 

Maltese authorities claimed that the property owners were not entitled to any more money, as the rent laws in force were binding. 

€300,000 were already granted to the co-owners by the courts in 2013, after the property owners argued that the rent laws were violating their rights. 

The constitutional court had then overturned this sentence as it argued that there was no breach in human rights, and stated that the government had not amended any laws which affect the 70-year contract between the band club and the property owners.  

The laws were there to protect the public interest and that no violation of human rights had occurred, the government argued through the attorney general (AG) in Strasbourg. 

The club argued that it was observing the laws of the land and so had not been in violation of the owner’s property rights. 

The European Court unanimously decided that there had indeed been violation of rights despite the AG’s objections. 

The court ordered that the amount due by the government should be payed within three months. 

Last July, the constitutional court also awarded €210,000 to the owners of the Zabbar Maria Mater Gratiae band club property owners, after the court similarly ruled out that rent laws were being breached.