A 13-year-old boy will not get Maltese citizenship because he was born to a British mother outside Malta – and outside wedlock – even though his father is Maltese. His mother, Ms M, got pregnant by a Maltese man, Mr G, to whom she was not married, and had a baby boy in Scotland in 1996.

She wanted her son to have Maltese citizenship, as this would guarantee his education in Malta. But Mr G. never recognised the boy although he was declared the biological father by the court.

In 2006, a court heard that denying him citizenship was discriminatory in terms of his human rights.

The argument was that the lack of citizenship infringed his rights to forge family ties with his biological father – even though Mr G has never shown any interest in the boy.

The Constitutional Court, composed of Chief Justice Vincent de Gaetano, Mr Justice Joseph Camilleri and Mr Justice Joseph Filletti, found that there was no link between the two and that the only reason that citizenship was being sought was for economic reasons.

A person born after August 1989 has the right to citizenship if at the time of his birth his mother or father is a Maltese citizen.

However, if the child is born out of wedlock, then the reference to “father” is replaced by “mother” – who in this case was British. The boy therefore did not meet the criteria for citizenship.

The Constitutional Court did not feel that there was any discrimination against the boy because of his illegitimate birth, noting that the right to citizenship is not one contemplated in the European Convention on Human Rights.

“In reality, this is a simple question that may have been unnecessarily complicated by the parties involved, as well as by the court, due to emotional reasons rather than ones based on the law,” it said.