The Ramblers' Association of Malta has won a "landmark" Court battle over a Baħrija footpath leading to Blata tal-Melh, with the Court of Appeal ruling that public use, and not ownership, determines whether a pathway remains accessible to the public, effectively safeguarding the right of way.

In a statement Monday, the association said that it had won the legal case relating to the closure of a passage at Baħrija leading to the site known as Il-Blata tal-Melh, following a judgement delivered on 4 May.

The Ramblers' Association said that the closure of the passage originally took place in March 2021 through the installation of an illegal gate, which was immediately reported by the association to the enforcement section of the Planning Authority.

The company known as Touchstone Properties Ltd then applied to sanction the gate on behalf of the contraveners.

This sanctioning application was refused by the Planning Authority on the grounds that it would result in the closure of a pre-1967 footpath, as well as a restriction of access to existing coastal recreational resources, in the form of the popular coastal spot known as Il-Blata tal-Melh.

Touchstone Properties Ltd then appealed the decision before the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal (EPRT), which confirmed the decision of the Planning Authority.

After determining that the footpath had been in use by the public on the balance of probabilities, it applied Policy 1.2I of the Rural Policy of 2014 to protect against the closure of the footpath, notwithstanding the fact that the footpath passed through private land.

The company subsequently appealed again before the Court of Appeal.

In what the association described as a "landmark judgement" delivered on Monday, the Court of Appeal, presided over by Judge Mark Simiana, decided that what makes a footpath public is not the ownership of the footpath, but its previous use by the public.

The court also consolidated existing jurisprudence on the matter, stating that this legal concept was an ancient and well-known one.

It concluded that through previous use of the footpath by the public, the pathway could be protected from closure on planning grounds under the Rural Policy.

The Ramblers' Association welcomed the decision, saying it would stop landowners from being able to close off long-standing country pathways with gates and similar obstructions.

"This will put a stop to the privatisation of the countryside, allowing it to be enjoyed freely by everyone instead of being made into the exclusive preserve of a few wealthy individuals," the association said.

The association also expressed appreciation for Dr Joseph Ellis, who represented it in the case, as well as a number of walking organisations, namely Trail Makers, Trekking Malta, Leisure Ventures, Xir Cammini and The Malta Geographical Society, which provided data that made it possible to reconstruct a long-standing history of public use of the footpath.

It added that due to the suspension of enforcement action during the proceedings, the public has already been restricted from using the footpath for five years.

"More time is set to be lost because there is a pending appeal against enforcement, which will in due time fall through thanks to Monday's decision," the association said.

The NGO also used the occasion to criticise the planning system, describing it as unjust.

"The association wants to use this occasion to bring to attention the manifest injustice of a planning system which is designed to protect those who perform illegalities instead of the public who suffers from these illegalities," the Ramblers' Association said.