‘Band club lease’ law declared unconstitutional

A controversial law introduced in 2018, which prevented landlords from evicting band club tenants for breaching their lease agreements, was contrary to fundamental rights, a constitutional court has ruled.

In a ruling handed down on Thursday, Chief Justice Mark Chetcuti said that there was no compelling public interest to justify the legal amendment to the Civil Code promulgated in July 2018, which blocked any evictions of band clubs due to structural alterations made without the landlord’s permission.

The judgment also established that the State did not possess ”unlimited power to introduce legislation that impacts the outcome of pending court cases.”

This emerged in a decision to a constitutional reference in the civil court case about the Stella Maris band club in Sliema which has been ongoing for the past 12 years.

The landlords had filed an action before the Rent Regulation Board, arguing that the tenants, the Stella Maris band club, had carried out structural alterations to the premises without the landlords’ consent or knowledge.

On its part, the band club retorted that the works were necessary as part of the ordinary maintenance of the premises, which it had held on lease since 1959.

The landlords had acquired the premises under a temporary emphyteusis dating back to 1876 and set to expire in 2026. The direct owner of the property was the Joint Office.

In 2017, the Rent Regulation Board had dismissed the landlords’ case, leading the plaintiffs to file and appeal.

But in 2018, while the appeal was still pending, the government had introduced legal changes, applicable retroactively, which prohibited the eviction of band clubs when they  carried out structural works without landlords’ consent, provided the works were related to the “philharmonic or social activities…..or activities performed by the band club” or when those works consisted of “improvements to the premises.”

The court of appeal had later ruled that it could not approve the non-renewal of the lease, despite finding that the landlords’ claim should be upheld.

The landlords subsequently requested a constitutional reference on the matter.

The defendant Band Club and the State Advocate had submitted that the 2018 amendment had a legitimate, philanthropic aim.

Minister Michael Falzon, who has been the Stella Maris Band Club president since 2006, testified that the club had paid for maintenance works and said the site was used for philanthropic activities and free music classes. 

A club official told the court that structural interventions were deemed necessary in 1995 and 2003 in order to replace dangerous old wooden beams and other structures. An architect also confirmed that the roof had been reconstructed in accordance with planning permits.

The court was told that temporary structures at roof level had been replaced with a larger room and two toilets. Part of the spiral staircase had also been removed. 

Chief Justice Mark Chetcuti, in his judgment on the constitutional reference said that although the law envisaged the retroactive application of new laws, this had to be justified by a “compelling public interest”. 

Although band clubs played a part in Malta’s cultural heritage and contributed to the economy, there was no such public interest in this case, said the judge. 

The court observed that the 2018 amendment was not designed to protect non-profit organisations from rising rents, but rather against those “repercussions brought about through their own conscious failure to abide by the obligations expressly laid down in the lease agreement.”

“In the opinion of the court, the State failed to maintain the required balance between the legitimate aim of protecting the tenancy of band clubs and the interests of the individual plaintiffs…” said the court, ruling that subarticle 5 of article 1531J of the Civil Code breached the fundamental rights of the plaintiffs to peaceful enjoyment of their property and that the introduction of that section of the law breached their right to a fair hearing.

As a result of the ruling Stella Maris Band Club could not claim protection under that section of the law in the ongoing dispute before the court of appeal, said the judge.

Prof. Ian Refalo appeared for the plaintiffs. Lawyer Christian Falzon Scerri was the defendant’s lawyer.