Tribunal rules against Lands Authority in pavement tables case

A local tribunal has just delivered what looks to be a landmark judgement related to the ongoing issue with tables and chairs hogging public space.

The proliferation of restaurant seating across Malta’s tourist hotspots has long been the subject of complaints by residents forced to weave their way through the commercial takeover of what were once public walkways.

The matter made headlines last year when an ambulance was filmed as it was forced to slowly squeeze past tables and chairs in Valletta as restaurants’ encroachments took up most of the street.

The latest development may set an important precedent for how such encroachments are allocated –although it is safe to say that few could have foreseen exactly how.

This week, Malta’s Administrative Review Tribunal ruled against a Lands Authority decision to deny a grocer in Gżira the right to put out displays for fruit and vegetables on public space.

The Tribunal noted that the Lands Authority gave the green light to other commercial entities, such as a restaurant just adjacent, to take up part of the pavement, arguing that its refusal of the grocer’s request to do the same amounted to discrimination.

The case was brought by Tania Sciberras, who runs a grocer on Triq ix-Xatt in Gżira. She appealed a decision by the Lands Authority after her request to put out a temporary display for fruit and vegetables onto the pavement was shot down.

The Lands Authority argued that there was “no clear justification as to the absolute necessity for the occupation of a public open space by this activity”.

It explained that its decision regarding the different treatment between catering establishments and retail outlets is that a shop that sells vegetables and fruit does not have an “absolute need” to benefit from a concession on public land, whereas an catering establishment has such a need.

Ms Scibberas appealed the decision and won. The Court argued that the justification was vague, especially since the restaurant just near the grocer has tables and chairs on public space, as well as a permanent aluminium structure on the pavement where Ms Sciberras wished to put out her display. 

The Tribunal thereby ruled that the Lands Authority must play by its own rules, and called it out over its argument that the grocer’s clients could be served inside the shop, saying: “The same could be said for the thousands of catering establishments around Malta and Gozo that were given a permit to occupy public land for their tables and chairs.”

It went on to argue that public land should be enjoyed by all, “and if the Lands Authority feels it should restrict this right of enjoyment in favour of commercial interests, it cannot then discriminate between one type of commercial activity and another.”

This ruing could set a precedent for future requests of encroachment of public space for commercial interest, raising the question of when a limit will be reached. 

Image credit: Triq Ix-Xatt in Gżira, Malta by Frank Bothe