The Federation of Hunters has filed a judicial protest against the goverment following the decision taken on Saturday to close the autumn hunting season until 10 October.

The decision follows the illegalities that the government said were committed during the past week.

On Sunday a group of hunters took to the streets of Valletta to voice their protest in a protest that did not have the necessary police permits.

In their judicial protest, the hunters’ lobby said that the government must revoke its “incorrect and unfair” hunting ban, arguing that the “general hunting population should not be made to suffer the consequences of the infringements of the few.

The hunters argued that it has its reservations on whether the government’s decision was based on official statistics or on scaremongering.

The protest was filed by FKNK officials Joe Perici Calascione and Lino Farrugia against Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and Environment Minister Leo Brincat.

The FKNK also argued that the government may have acted beyond its powers, and that it has “serious doubts as to whether its decisions were legal”

Lawyer Kathleen Grima signed the judicial protest.