Changes to the law meant to safeguard band clubs from eviction from their leased premises as a result of legal action by landlords have been declared unconstitutional and in breach of the owners’ human rights.

The decision was made in a case instituted by the owners of the De Paule Band Club, in Paola.

Amendments to the law was a reaction to reverse a court judgment that had ordered the eviction of a band club after a long-fought legal battle, the owners argued.

They had slammed the new law, saying it made “a mockery of the judiciary and the rule of law” as it was effectively reversing a court judgment.

Mr Justice Grazio Mercieca agreed with the arguments put forward and ruled that the new law violated the constitution and breached the owners’ human rights. He awarded them €74,000 in damages, including €4,000 in moral damages.

In April 2018, the De Paule band club owners had won back possession of the premises after a 20-year case when an appeals court upheld a decision ordering the club to vacate the property due to structural works carried out without the owners’ consent.

The case had been initiated in 1997 by families from whom the club had been renting the property since 1945.

Apart from the furore created among the members of the band club, who feared their beloved musical society might have to be disbanded, the judgment was seen as a ‘worrying’ precedent for clubs that also had pending court proceedings instituted by their landlords.

Faced by calls to address the situation, and in line with the Labour Party’s manifesto, the government took action.

Then justice minister Owen Bonnici promised to intervene to ensure that band clubs are not evicted from the premises they were using.

Days later, the government announced its intention to amend the law.

The result was a  new law, enacted in July, which effectively reversed the court order and also overturned the owners’ right to repossess their property.

However, the owners filed a constitutional case against the state attorney and the De Paule band club, insisting that the new law was breaching their rights.

The law allows band clubs to continue occupying their premises even after their eviction has been ordered by a court so long as they pay a rent 10 times higher than they were paying before the eviction order, up to a maximum of one per cent of the property’s value.

It also blocks court-ordered evictions altogether when structural alterations carried out without the owners’ consent – previously grounds for eviction – are done for philharmonic or social purposes and as long as the club offers a guarantee to allow the owners to restore the property at the end of the lease.

Mr Justice Mercieca, however, upheld the argument put forward by the owners’ lawyers – Paul Cachia and Hugh Peralta – that the law is unconstitutional and breaches their rights as guaranteed by the European Convention of Human Rights.

“The legislative intervention in question effectively annulled the court judgment and the applicants cannot rely on the judgment to regain possession of their premises as they are entitled to do in accordance with the judgment.

“This constitutes a clear violation of the right to a fair hearing,” the judge ruled.

He added that the new law amounted to “an undue interference with the right to peaceful enjoyment of the property”.