Dr Robert Musumeci's Selected Principles of Maltese Planning Law, is the second literary work to be published locally, on the subject of Maltese development planning legislation. The first harks back to the late 1990s; in its day that first book was an excellent work which managed to cover practically all aspects of development planning legislation in Malta. Regretfully, it was never updated. In the meantime development planning law did not stand still: not only has the relevant legislation been amended time and time again, but judicial and quasi-judicial activism in the field have been rife. The Environment and Planning Review Tribunal, together with our Courts of Justice, the Court of Appeal in particular, have been busy interpreting and applying the relevant legislation, meting out justice and in the process shaping our local doctrine.

Robert Musumeci not only observed the legislative, judicial and quasi-judicial evolution of development planning since his student days back in the 1990s, but also amassed and studied the relevant rulings and judgments. Musumeci's interest in the subject culminated in a Ph.D., in which he explored the role of our Courts of Justice interpreting development planning legislation on occasion filling lacunae, on other occasions giving direction where the law might not be as clear as it could possibly be, and always contributing to the evolution of development planning law in Malta.

Musumeci's work is not a comprehensive study in development planning law, in the sense that he did not set out to try to cover every single aspect of Maltese development planning law. In this work, the author restricts himself firstly to development control; secondly the author focuses mainly on the contribution of the Courts to specific aspects of such control. He successfully identifies and explores key issues in local development planning law, as adjudged upon by our Courts. To give but one example, the author explores the manner in which the phrase 'shall have regard to' in article 72(2) of Cap. 552 has been interpreted by the Court of Appeal, which interpretation rendered rather futile the relevant amendments introduced by the drafters of the same Cap. 552. Personally, I have no doubt that the legislator had good intentions in trying to introduce an element of flexibility in the decision-taking process. The Court of Justice however put the brakes on this, by interpreting the obligation to have regard to plans, policies, etc., as an obligation to apply these planning instruments. This in effect took us back to Cap. 504, article 69. The legislator's efforts were thwarted by the Courts of Justice which seems to oppose an approach whereby the decision taker is to 'consider' as in 'see what the plans, policies and regulations have to say but then decide yourself what you consider should be done'. Indeed, this latter approach might have resulted in a situation where development plans, policies and regulations can be cast aside after having been 'considered', with little possibility of effective and successful contestation by aggrieved parties due to their lacking an objective basis on which to contest said decision. One now awaits the reaction of the legislator, who might decide to up the efforts to grant the decision takers within the Planning Authority the flexibility and discretion the legislator believes they require and deserve.

Musumeci was selective, out of sheer practicality. Trying to cover every aspect of development planning law would have resulted in an impossible mission, since the subject is so vast. This does not make his work less relevant or useful to practitioners, to students and to anybody else who might have an interest in the subject; indeed Selected Principles of Maltese Planning Laws is highly recommended because Musumeci's selection of principles is based on his long years of reading and also practicing in the field; there is no doubt that he knows what is of relevance, and proceeds to explore these topics to the necessary depth and detail. My only hope is that for many years to come this book will continue to be updated as the laws evolve and further judgments are handed down, thus not losing any of its importance as a publication and remaining relevant in the field.

Dr Ivan Mifsud is  Dean Faculty of Laws