Court freezes Siġġiewi horse rescue eviction case pending expropriation battle

A dispute concerning a Siġġiewi landowner seeking the removal of a horse rescue organisation has been put on hold after the Court of Appeal upheld a decision suspending eviction proceedings.

The 3,072sq.m tract of land at Tal-Providenza is occupied by the RMJ Horse Rescue and Rehabilitation Voluntary Organisation, which runs a sanctuary for rescued horses.

Spiridione Farrugia, who claims ownership of the site, has been seeking the organisation’s eviction since 2023.

He argued that it was occupying the land without a valid legal title.

In October 2024, the government stepped in and issued an expropriation declaration saying that the land was required for a public purpose linked to the operation of a horse rescue centre.

That move set off separate proceedings before the Land Arbitration Board, where Farrugia is contesting the legality of the expropriation and arguing that the taking of his property does not genuinely serve a public purpose.

On Tuesday, the court ruled that the eviction case cannot move forward until the ownership issues raised by the expropriation proceedings are threshed out.

Risk of contradictory outcomes

The bench, composed of Chief Justice Mark Chetcuti, Judge Robert Mangion and Judge Simone Grech, backed an earlier decision to stay the eviction proceedings.

The judges said allowing the case to press ahead could give rise to a contradictory and impractical outcome.

They noted that if the rescue organisation were forced off the land now, only for the Land Arbitration Board to later uphold the expropriation, it could end up being entitled to move back onto the same site shortly afterwards.

Such a scenario, the court said, would create a “vacuum” in which the organisation would be removed and then potentially reinstated, to the detriment of its voluntary work caring for horses.

Landowner alleges breach of property rights

Farrugia challenged the stay of proceedings, arguing that it amounted to a breach of his constitutional property rights and his rights under the European Convention on Human Rights.

He argued that because compensation has not yet been paid, ownership of the land remains vested in him.

Farrugia also claimed that the rescue organisation had gone beyond the boundaries of an encroachment permit issued by the Lands Department in December 2019 and was occupying more land than it had originally been granted.

RMJ Horse Rescue has consistently maintained that its occupation of the site is based on that permit, which was granted specifically to facilitate its rescue and rehabilitation activities.

‘Justice must take its course’

“It is true that there is the element of time which appears will be substantially lengthened against the appellant,” the judges noted.

They added that “justice must take its course” where there exists a solid legal basis for staying proceedings.

The court described such suspensions as extraordinary measures. They however said that they remain necessary where parallel proceedings are capable of determining issues that lie at the heart of another case.

The judges also stressed that courts and tribunals have a duty to ensure that the pending proceedings before the Land Arbitration Board are wrapped up with “as much celerity as possible”.

The appeal was dismissed and Farrugia was ordered to pay the costs of the appeal.

Lawyer Maxine Gatt appeared for Farrugia. Lawyers Reuben Balzan and Naomi Galea represented RMJ.

RSS Feed Source: Independent Malta Court freezes Siġġiewi horse rescue eviction case pending expropriation battle