A court on Thursday threw out a claim by Birdlife Malta’s that placing the Wild Birds Regulation Unit under the Gozo Ministry rather than the Environment Ministry breached the spirit of the law.
The crux of the issue concerned a decision taken by the Prime Minister to place the WBRU as well as the Ornis Committee under the Gozo Ministry, instead of retaining them under the Environment Ministry.
Such a decision went against the umbrella provisions of the Environment Protection Act and related subsidiary legislation which referred to the Environment Minister as the main administrator of any structure or process thereunder, argued Birdlife.
Yet, in spite of a letter by Birdlife Malta’s CEO Mark Sultana, addressed to the Prime Minister in January 2020, the move went ahead.
Birdlife followed up their letter with a criminal complaint to the police commissioner, claiming that all licences issued for the 2020 spring hunting season had been issued illegally.
But the police dismissed that complaint, saying that they had no power to take action in this regard.
In April 2020, Birdlife took their grievances to court by filing a civil suit against the Prime Minister, the Minister for the Environment and the Minister for Gozo, claiming that the respondents had acted beyond their powers by issuing hunting licences.
They also requested the court to order the revocation of such licences and to provide adequate measures accordingly.
The Wild Birds Unit was not only meant to regulate hunting and trapping but it was also responsible for all derogations necessary in light of scientific issues and according to the Environment Protection Act all bird-related matters were to be handled by the Environment Minister, argued Birdlife.
Yet, in 2020, spring hunting licences were issued under the letterhead of the Gozo Ministry and whenever a request was addressed to the Wild Birds Unit it was redirected to that ministry.
However, Richard Lia, who headed that Unit since 2018, testified that hunting licences were issued exclusively by the unit and the process was not influenced in any manner by any minister.
The derogation allowing quail hunting in spring 2020, was announced by means of a joint declaration by the Environment Ministry and the Gozo Ministry after consultation with the Environment and Resources Authority.
Since the licences were issued by the unit, there was no irregularity in the process, argued the respondents.
There was no template for such licences and the fact that they were issued under letterheads of the Gozo Ministry “did not mean anything,” the court was told.
By means of a preliminary decision, the Prime Minister was declared non-suited.
When delivering judgment the First Hall, Civil Court, presided over by Mr Justice Neville Camilleri, observed that a reading of the relative legislation showed that the sole entity having power to issue licences is the Wild Birds Regulation Unit.
The Ornis Committee makes recommendations on the opening or otherwise of the hunting season.
Since hunting licences were issued by the unit, even though under the Gozo Ministry letterhead, the respondent ministries could not be held to have acted ultra vires because they did not issue licences, said the court.
Birdlife had also requested revocation of licences issued in 2020.
But the court held that those licences were applicable between April 10 to 30, 2020 and had, therefore, long expired.
That request was also rejected.
Nothing much could be said about Birdlife’s last request for adequate measures once the first two requests were rejected, the court concluded and thus rejected that request too.