The Constitutional Court has confirmed that the Inland Revenue Department’s failure to process a company’s tax assessment for 27 years violated the fundamental right to a fair hearing within a reasonable amount of time.

However, Chief Justice Silvio Camilleri and judges Giannino Caruana Demajo and Noel Cuschieri annulled the First Hall of the Civil Court’s original decision to grant €30,000 in compensation to John Geranzi Ltd.

The case dates back to 1977, when the company objected to an IRD tax assessment which claimed additional tax of Lm7,912. But this objection was only rejected after 27 years; and only then could the company resort to the Courts.

In their case, John Geranzi Ltd’s heirs objected to the assessment and to the excessive delay, which, they said, had breached and prejudiced their right to a fair hearing.

But the original sentence was appealed by the Commissioner of Inland Revenue, who objected to the compensation award and to the determination that fundamental rights had been breached. The heirs also appealed, objecting to objected to the Court’s decision that legal costs had to be shared, and that the Prime Minister and the Attorney General were not deemed to be at fault/

The Constitutional Court, however, ruled that a 27-year delay could in no way be considered reasonable, adding that the IRD had a duty to act swiftly and efficiently even in cases where the company is partly at fault for the delays.

Such delays inevitably blurred people’s memories, and the people best placed to testify may die in the process; facts which breached the right to a fair hearing.

The three judges ultimately decided to annul the compensation award, stating that annulling the tax assessment and any related administrative fines and interest on any tax which may be due by the company was a more suitable remedy.