Leading judgments from Maltese courts and tribunals.
The Court of Criminal Appeal annulled a grievous bodily harm conviction on 3 September 2026 because the Court of Magistrates cited article 216 without its paragraph. The case returns for a fresh judgment. It matters to anyone appealing a summary conviction.
The Court of Appeal declares null the Lands Authority's appeal against an award of compensation and damages for expropriated land in Fgura: article 74(2) of the Government Lands Act allows twenty days from the Board's decision, the term is peremptory, and the merits go unexamined.
The Civil Court (Commercial Section) disqualified a former director for 15 years on 28 August 2026 for acting for a company after he had resigned, to its detriment. It matters to liquidators and to anyone who still signs for a company.
The Court of Criminal Appeal held on 26 August 2026 that an accused who maintained her admission cannot plead moral coercion on appeal, and left a 39-month sentence unchanged. It matters to lawyers advising clients before they admit.
The First Hall, constitutional jurisdiction, refuses to suspend a four-and-a-half-year sentence while a prisoner argues that legal aid failed to file his appeal, because he showed neither a prima facie breach nor irreparable harm; the main case is fast-tracked instead.
The Gozo Family Court refused to pronounce divorce ahead of the final judgment: article 66B requires adequate maintenance to be in place, and a pendente lite decree the husband is contesting does not count.
The Criminal Court adopted an agreed 15-year sentence and €15,000 fine for cannabis trafficking offences, holding that a late admission still weighed because no jury had been empanelled. Relevant to lawyers negotiating plea agreements.
The Industrial Tribunal held on 17 August 2026 that a room attendant who agreed to a one-year contract without probation could not use probation to leave early, and ordered him to pay €4,106.91. It matters to employers recruiting from abroad.
The Court of Magistrates jailed a man for nine months for attacking a woman in a car park, after rejecting an alibi built on unauthenticated photographs and documents. Relevant to defence lawyers preparing an alibi.
The Civil Court (Commercial Section) held on 12 August 2026 that in a winding up by the court the liquidator chooses the best offer for company property, and the court only controls that choice. It matters to liquidators, bidders and creditors.
The Court of Magistrates (Gozo) ordered a birth act annotated so that the double-barrelled surname the applicant has long used replaces the registered one; the change reaches only the acts in the Director's power, not the passport or identity card.
Companies, insolvency, commercial contracts and the Commercial Section.
12 articlesFundamental rights, fair hearing and the Constitutional Court.
20 articlesThe Criminal Court, the Court of Magistrates and the Court of Criminal Appeal.
24 articlesThe Industrial Tribunal and the Employment and Industrial Relations Act.
11 articlesMarriage, separation, maintenance, filiation and the Family Section.
20 articlesThe Environment and Planning Review Tribunal and the Development Planning Act.
4 articlesOwnership, servitudes, emphyteusis, leases, rent boards and expropriation.
21 articlesLeading judgments of the week in plain English, delivered every Saturday morning.