A decision by a local council to reserve particular zones for residential parking was yesterday declared to be ultra vires the council's powers.
The judgment was delivered by Mr Justice Lino Farrugia Sacco, sitting in the First Hall of the Civil Court, in a case filed by Joseph and Maria Victoria Borg against the Pietà local council.
The court heard that Mrs Borg had been summoned to defend a contravention on the basis that she had parked, without authorisation, in a reserved zone in the locality. Although it was her husband who had been driving the car, Mrs Borg had been found guilty and fined Lm20 for the contravention.
She had been forced to pay the fine, under protest, in order to renew her car's licence.
Mrs Borg argued that the registration of the fine was null and void, as there was no law that provided for payment in order to park in a reserved zone.
The Local Councils Act empowered the councils to maintain the roads and road markings, and to provide for pedestrians and parking. But the law did not empower the councils to reserve zones solely for residents' parking.
St Luke's Hospital was situated in the locality and it received patients and visitors from all over the country. It was therefore impossible for the Pietà local council to reserve zones for residents to the detriment of the other inhabitants of the country.
Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco said that one could sympathise with the residents of Pietà who always encountered parked cars owned and driven by persons from outside their locality. Residents of Valletta and of Mdina had the same problem, as did Gozitans.
However, the court could not ignore the problem faced by the ordinary citizen who would be fined if he parked in Valletta and then be fined when he went to any other locality because of reserved parking zones. The same citizen would then return to his own home town, where no reserved parking zones existed, and find that he could not park due to cars owned by residents of other localities.
If such a situation were allowed to continue there would no longer be Maltese citizens, but some 60 countries, representing each locality. There had therefore to be rules regulating parking in all areas or none at all.
Examining the legal aspects of this case, the court said that although Mrs Borg had not been driving her car when she incurred the fine, the law regulating motor vehicles stipulated that a person, who was the registered owner of a car, was responsible for contraventions incurred in respect of the same.
The court added that the Local Councils Act authorised the councils to enact bye-laws. However, such bye-laws could not give rise to preferential treatment.
The creation of reserved parking zones could be justified as a security measure, or on humanitarian grounds, but in this case the Pietà council had given an advantage to its residents over the interests of other citizens of the country.
In conclusion, Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco found that the imposition of a reserved parking zone for Pietà residents was ultra vires the powers given to the local council.
The fine of Lm20 imposed on Mrs Borg was also annulled.