In a landmark case decided recently, the Constitutional Court threw out the government’s reasoning on no less than six counts, telling it in effect that it does not have more rights than a normal citizen.

The case, decided by Mr Justice Joseph R. Micallef, regarded a claim by Champs Mediterrain Ltd and Terra Mediterranea Ltd against the Director of Lands, the director of the joint Office and the Lands Registrar and the Attorney General.

In short, when the government took over the church’s lands, it passed a law which enabled it to register its title to land retroactively.

But in some cases, people who purchased land were informed by their notaries that all was well and they could purchase the land in question only for them to find out later that that land was government land, retroactively registered by the government.

The case is still ongoing. What has been decided was the Constitutional Court rejecting the government’s six objections.