Leading cases in Maltese administrative law (Hardback)

“The judgments included in this publication offer a fascinating insight into the way our courts have delved in the subject.” – Chief Justice Emeritus Joseph Azzopardi

This collection of leading cases in Maltese administrative law, covers a period of more than one hundred years, during which the Maltese courts, even during colonial times, reviewed acts of the Administration. Even though it took some time for the Maltese courts to be audacious enough to challenge the reasonableness or otherwise of executive action the cases themselves reveal an ever-increasing determination by the courts to strike down illegality or disproportionate or unreasonable acts by any branch of the public sector. The collection includes also audacious judgments such as the declaration of a deportation order of British subjects born in Malta in World War II, as illegal and ultra vires as well as the ground-breaking judgment of the Blue Sisters case, where an unreasonable condition attached to a Catholic hospital licence was declared null and void

These landmark judgments cover such topics as the limits of judicial review, the question of juridical interest in public law actions, who may be a respondent in such cases, the judicial doctrine that where there is a lacuna in Maltese Administrative law, reference can be made to English common law, the question of how the rules of natural justice culled from English common law apply in Malta and their sphere of application, the influence of English common law in the interpretation, and in some cases as a source of Maltese Administrative law, and some of the procedural issues which arise in judicial review cases such as the strict six-month forfeiture period and the question of payment of damages in such actions.

These and several other matters are contained in this book which should assist judges, lawyer, scholars and students in understanding better Maltese administrative law in action. The work also constitutes a convenient handbook relating to Maltese jurisprudence on the subject.