A request by the FKNK to be included as a party to proceedings of an injunction case that was filed by BirdLife Malta aimed at preventing the opening of the spring hunting season has been rejected by a judge.

The First Hall of the Civil Court, presided by Mr. Justice Giovanni Grixti denied the application by the FKNK in a decree on Tuesday.

The judge said that the request for the issuing of the warrant, in and of itself, "excludes the association's participation because it has no power to open the opening or otherwise of the hunting season at issue."

But the Judge did uphold a request by the hunters' association to shorten legal time frames for hearing the case, and the date of the sitting was brought forward to 14 April.

The BirdLife Malta request for an injunction against the Government is to stop it from issuing the legal notice that effectively would open a spring hunting season for the Vulnerable Turtledove. The request, that was signed by Dr Claire Bonello and Dr Martin Farrugia.

A similar warrant of prohibitory injunction had been filed last year. The main difference is that this time, the injunction is being requested to stop the legal notice from being issued, whereas that of last year was filed after the legal notice was published. In fact, this was the main technical argument which the State Advocate had insisted upon and that was accepted by Judge Demicoli, leading her to decide the case against BirdLife Malta last year.

Since the first warrant of prohibitory injunction, the Maltese Government has received direct communication from the European Commissioner for Environment, along with a new infringement process that was initiated by the European Commission against Malta with regards to the spring hunting season for European Turtle-dove. These warnings were issued since the Vulnerable status of the Turtle-dove does not allow for any derogation from the European Birds Directive to hunt this species in spring. BirdLife Malta CEO Mark Sultana stated: "There is no shadow of doubt that the spring hunting season on Turtle-doves in Malta goes against the EU's Birds Directive."