Hotelier Michael Zammit Tabona is suing the Superintendent of Public Health over COVID-19 travel rules that require residents who have not taken a booster shot to quarantine upon their return to Malta.
Zammit Tabona, an entrepreneur with multiple interests in the tourism sector, is arguing that the rules breach his fundamental rights.
The businessman took two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine but has not taken a booster shot, saying laboratory tests show that he has a high level of immunity against the coronavirus.
In a constitutional case filed against the Superintendent of Public Health, Charmaine Gauci, and State Advocate Chris Soler, Zammit Tabona said that ongoing travel rules were seriously prejudicing his work, which requires him to frequently travel overseas.
He said he had written to Gauci back in January, providing results of laboratory tests conducted in November, December and January, that proved that he had a high level of immunity against the COVID-19 virus and that therefore, the booster was not only “scientifically useless” but also “possibly dangerous” in his case.
His letter went unanswered.
He followed it up with a reminder on February 9, but again he received no reply, although he received confirmation that his correspondence had reached its destination. He wrote another letter on March 3, after he was placed in quarantine when he returned to Malta.
Yet once again, no reply was forthcoming.
Zammit Tabona is now arguing in court that COVID-19 certification and quarantine restrictions are in breach of fundamental human rights and lack a scientific basis.
Malta imposes some of Europe’s strictest COVID-19 travel restrictions, with vaccine certificates for residents only valid for three months from the date of a second vaccine shot, unlike other member states that enforce a nine-month validity period. Residents must have taken a booster shot for their certificate to be valid for nine months.
Malta also does not accept COVID-19 recovery certificates as valid for entry. Health Minister Chris Fearne has said that talks are under way to allow travellers to present a negative PCR test result to enter without quarantine, rather than vaccine certificate. But authorities have not said when that change will come into effect.
In his case, Zammit Tabona is arguing that Malta’s rules are excessive, unreasonable, disproportionate and discriminatory.
Subsidiary legislation was most severe and had been introduced in a “totally arbitrary” manner, based on “ulterior motives” and lacking sufficient scientific reasoning, argued the applicant’s lawyers.
The Superintendent together with the State “painted a very negative picture for the public and constantly so” and that picture was not correct and not based on facts and science, Zammit Tabona argued.
Through his lawyers, the hotelier argued that authorities had created an “illusion” of a national health crisis during the pandemic that was far worse than the factual reality.
Those who were not boosted were being unjustly discriminated against without a valid scientific basis and thus such measures were not only unjust but also invalid.
For this reason, the applicant called upon the First Hall, Civil Court in its constitutional jurisdiction to declare the relative legislation and measures as violating fundamental rights, thus null and void and to hold the respondents responsible in damages.
The court was also requested to liquidate the amount of damages and to provide any remedy as deemed appropriate.
Lawyers Edric Micallef Figallo and Keith Borg signed the application.