A Gozitan family has been ordered to evict the Qala property that has been their home for over 30 years, potentially leading to the forced removal of dozens of other families caught up in a land-ownership dispute unwittingly sparked centuries ago.

The landmark court decision forces the Cauchi family to hand back the original land with all improvements on it to a foundation set up by a noblewoman in 1675.

Sources told Times of Malta the decision could lead to the eviction of “at least” 30 families residing in land between Qala and Nadur who are facing the same predicament. Two years ago, Times of Malta had reported that a number of residents were being approached by speculators to pay hefty sums of money for their property, as a long-running dispute came home to roost.

Gozitan families said they were being told they do not actually own their property, and that they should cough up an amount of money to redeem the ground rent, or else be taken to court.

That dispute now has potential legal grounding after judgment was delivered in the first of a line of cases stemming from a hotly disputed ownership saga concerning lands claimed by the Abbazia di Sant’Antonio delli Navarra, a foundation constituted in the 17th century by the Noble Cosmana Cumbo Stagno Navarra.

The noblewoman had expressly entrusted the administration of the multitude of properties owned by the Abbazia to the Archbishop of Malta for the sole purpose of ensuring that the rents derived would cover masses for the repose of her soul.

The archbishop was also to appoint a rector to administer the lands, with benefits accruing to the foundation. Among those properties were large plots in the limits of Qala, in an area known as Tal-Margia.

In January 1891, parcels of those lands were granted to various individuals under title of temporary emphyteusis for 99 years by a public deed. Those ground rents expired in August 1990.

Gozitan families said they were being told they do not actually own their property, and that they should cough up an amount of money to redeem the ground rent, or else be taken to court

But way before that date, Anthony Buttigieg was assigned several plots of lands through a partition done by Notary Giuseppe Cauchi in August 1959. In that contract, all ground rents were erroneously put down as being owed to the Gozo Cathedral.

Almost 40 years later, Buttigieg donated two of those lands, one measuring 665 square metres, the other 1,564 square metres, to his niece Josephine Cauchi.

Notary Paul George Pisani, who published that donation in 1996, declared that the lands were “free and unencumbered” since the parties had confirmed that the ground rent had been redeemed in 1992.

Josephine Cauchi subsequently registered her property at the Land Registry and obtained two certificates of title over the two plots in 2003 and 2004 respectively.

The bombshell

Meanwhile, her uncle had applied for and obtained a permit to build his home on that land.

Cauchi eventually moved into his home together with her husband and children around 1990, six years before the lands and property were donated to her.

Life for the family progressed normally until years later the family received a legal letter informing them about the Abbazia’s claims over the land that housed their home.

That letter was followed up by a judicial letter in August 2017 which sparked the whole saga.

In October 2017, lawyer Patrick Valentino, as rector of the foundation, filed proceedings against Cauchi and her husband, also roping in the Land Registrar, seeking their eviction and calling for the lands plus buildings to revert back to the foundation, which was the original and lawful owner.

The rector argued that the redemption done by Cauchi’s uncle was irregular since it could not be done by a simple schedule deposited in court.

Buttigieg ought to have first informed the foundation to convert the temporary ground rent to a perpetual one by means of a public contract, then redeem it in terms of law. The schedule was filed against Alexander Tabone, who later turned out to be a farmer entrusted by the archdiocese with the task of collecting rents in Gozo but having no rights over the lands in question and did not represent the Abbazia.

Was it church or private property?

When testifying in the case, Archbishop Charles Scicluna said the hereditary rights of the Stagno Navarra family were never in doubt.

Prior to a court of appeal judgment delivered in 2013 in a case filed against the archdiocese by heir of the noblewoman, Richard Stagno Navarra, the church used to insist the foundation was ecclesiastical in nature.

The 2013 judgment did not settle that matter but stated that the archbishop had the sole right to approve the choice of rector for the foundation.

However, after that decision the archdiocese sought legal advice on the matter.

They could no longer insist that the foundation was ecclesiastical and the best way to settle the matter was for the church to declare it had no further claims over the properties at stake.

An agreement to that effect was signed with the successors of the noblewoman in 2017 and the church renounced its right to approve of any transfers of the relative properties.

The church’s interest was limited solely to ensuring that the rector selected could guarantee the funds for the church to be able to fulfil its pious obligations towards the founder of the Abbazia.

That change in position meant the rector could now be a layman. That was why the church did not object to Valentino’s appointment as it had previously done in respect of Stagno Navarra, explained the archbishop.

There was no doubt that the properties were not church-owned. Had they been, they would have been transferred to government to be administered by the Joint Office.

Resolving the dispute

A Magistrates’ Court (superior jurisdiction) in Gozo has now ruled there was no doubt that the temporary emphyteusis had expired when Buttigieg presented his schedule of redemption at the court registry.

The Cauchis tried to sanction that by arguing that the redemption and registration of the property was done when their home was already built and inhabited.

An ARMS representative said a water meter was registered in 1990 and bills dated 1990 and 1991 showed there was utilities consumption. Josephine Cauchi was registered as a voter at that address since 1991.

Planning Authority officials testified that a development permit was issued in 1990.

Based on all evidence, the court, presided over by Magistrate Brigitte Sultana, was not morally convinced that anyone lived in the partially completed structure before January 1990.

The crux of the issue revolved around the expiry of the temporary ground rent.

When all legal provisions were analysed, the court concluded that redemption by schedule only applied to perpetual emphyteusis.

The court also believed that Cauchi’s hold was tainted by fraud since they must have been aware of the legal issue concerning the property.

Stagno Navarra had filed a judicial protest when Cauchi’s uncle filed the redemption and the family must have been aware of that, especially since they were living with the uncle at the time.

The plans of the property and evidence of registration of the donation at the Public Registry had not been produced either.

All this led the court to conclude that Cauchi lacked good faith.

The court therefore ordered the property to revert back to the foundation, for the registration to be effected in the names of the rector, together with Dei Conti Holdings Limited and Maria Galea on behalf of the Abbazia.

The court ordered eviction of the Cauchi family.