Police Association takes Commissioner of Police to court over right to bid in weapons auction

The Malta Police Association has filed a lawsuit against the Commissioner of Police, the permanent secretary in the Ministry for Home Affairs and National Security, as well as against Obelisk Auctions Ltd, requesting the court confirm their right to participate in a judicial sale by auction.

The auction - of weapons and police vehicles - had been suspended in February after a court granted an injunction to the Police Association, which is protesting against a rule that prohibits public officers from bidding for the items.

The association together with public officers Malcolm Bondin and Frankie Sammut are claiming that they wish to bid for the items on auction but that this was not possible for the sole reason that they were public officers.

In total some 129 ex-service vehicles and nearly 800 weapons, including pistols from the 1912-1913 First Balkan War, which had either been issued to police officers or which had been impounded as part of investigations, were planned to be sold by auction to collectors.

Public officers, however, are automatically excluded from the auction and prospective buyers are required to sign a declaration stating that they are not public officers before being allowed to bid.

This last requirement led the Police Association and the two public officers to apply for the injunction claiming that it was not based on any provision of law and was, therefore illegal. The rule prohibiting public officers from bidding for any item was described as "discriminatory, arbitrary and illegal".

The police union said it had been forced to file the case in court because no progress had been registered in over three months of constant negotiations between the parties.