The state advocate has stalled the return to the matrimonial home of a woman whose husband has been missing for several months, after he appealed a judge’s decision which granted her access to the premises.

The appeal was filed after Madam Justice Anna Felice ruled last month that the woman was suffering “irreparable harm” by not being allowed into the Mosta home pending the outcome of separation proceedings before the Family Court. Pauline Pisani’s husband, Marcel Pisani, the 50-year-old wheelchair user who has been missing since December 31, is believed to have set fire to their matrimonial home before his disappearance.

The police have issued four appeals for help to locate him. Pisani drove a blue Renault Captur with a cream-coloured roof.

Through her lawyer, Rachel Tua, the woman claimed that the matrimonial home had been sealed for months and she was unable to gain access to any of her belongings.

Moreover, the house had sustained damage in the fire.

In her application requesting interim measures, filed in July, Pisani claimed that, in 2017, her husband had tried to end his life and ended up in a wheelchair.

She modified the matrimonial home so her husband could lead a normal life. However, their marriage had broken down. She left with her son and moved in with her mother.

She said that she was receiving assistance from the Domestic Violence Unit and the Victims Support Agency.

Marcel Pisani was reported missing on New Year's Eve. Photo: Family hand out photo.

The court had upheld her arguments that, although the magisterial inquiry into the fire had been concluded, she was still locked out due to pending separation proceedings.

The court was meant to have appointed someone to appear on her husband’s behalf for the case to proceed but this had not yet happened, she said.

Madam Justice Felice quoted from a European Court of Human Rights manual on interim measures, which says that urgent ones are “applicable only where there is a risk of irreparable harm”.

In this case, prima facie, Pauline Pisani’s human rights were being breached by the authorities’ refusal to allow her to return to the Mosta home, the judge said.

But the state advocate appealed the decision, arguing the court did not have the power to issue interim measures as requested and that this decision could have consequences on future cases as it set a precedent.

“As the court pointed out in its decision, interim measure are extraordinary in nature and can only be granted in extraordinary circumstances,” the state advocate stated in his application signed by lawyer Julian Vella and legal procurator Heidi Testa.

They insisted the elements at law to issue interim measures are not present in this case.

They asked for the court to hear and decree on their appeal from this preliminary decision before it continues to hear the rest of the constitutional case claiming breach of human rights.

The state advocate said this decision may not only impinge on the case at hand but could also affect the separation proceedings currently pending before the family court. It may also impinge on Marcel Pisani’s rights, who is still presumed alive and who is not represented in the constitutional proceedings.