The foundation entrusted with administering St John’s Co-Cathedral has been admitted into a lawsuit in which a number of Valletta shop tenants are claiming their right to a fair hearing was breached by a tribunal conducting separate proceedings to evict them.

The admission came in a partial judgment delivered by the First Hall, Civil Court in its constitutional jurisdiction.

The lawsuit was filed by a group of jewellers and other tenants of shops within the footprint of St John’s Co-Cathedral, in Valletta. The lawsuit is an offshoot of separate proceedings before the Administrative Review Tribunal, where the tenants are contesting an eviction order issued by the Lands Authority.

The St John’s Co-Cathedral Foundation, which administers the cathedral under a church-state agreement signed in 2001, was not a party to the proceedings before the tribunal.

At the tribunal, the tenants’ lawyers are arguing that an eviction notice can only be issued by the owner. However, the long-contested question as to whether the co-cathedral is owned by the state or by the church has remained unanswered.

The tenants’ lawyers therefore requested the tribunal to suspend the proceedings until the ownership issue is determined.

The tribunal turned down this request last March.

In that decree, however, the tribunal did not limit itself to the procedural issue concerning the staying or otherwise of the proceedings but went into the merits of the dispute.

In reaction, the tenants argued that, by means of its pronouncement, the tribunal had effectively decided the case despite the fact that evidence and submissions were not yet concluded. They argued that this prejudiced the outcome of the case, so they requested the recusal of the magistrate presiding over the tribunal to ensure a fair hearing. This request was also turned down.

The tenants then took their grievance to the constitutional court, claiming their right to a fair hearing had been breached and asking for an adequate remedy and for compensation. The case was filed against the state advocate and the Lands Authority.

The judge noted that …for good or ill, it [the foundation] was vested with the administration of St John’s Co-Cathedral, adding that the foundation could also collect rents from the tenants

It triggered an application by the foundation asking to be admitted as a party to the suit between the tenants and the other parties in terms of law.

The law granted that right of admission to “any person who shows to the satisfaction of the court that he is interested in any suit already pending between other parties….”

Such admission was possible even when the case had reached appeal stage, observed Mr Justice Toni Abela, presiding over the First Hall, Civil Court.

In this case, proceedings were still at first instance.

A necessary condition for admission was for the party to show that it held a subjective right which was to be supported or defended.

In this case, it was the foundation which had triggered proceedings before the tribunal after it requested the eviction by means of a letter to the Lands Commissioner in July 2003.

The judge noted that “…for good or ill, it [the foundation] was vested with the administration of St John’s Co-Cathedral” adding that the foundation could also collect rents from the tenants.

The court was convinced that the foundation had a juridical interest and not merely an interest in the outcome of these breach of rights proceedings because whatever happened in this suit could affect its rights as administrator of the co-cathedral.

Its request for admission was to be upheld, declared the court.

The case continues in February.