Practice / V
Constitutional and Human Rights
Redress before the Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights.
If a public authority, a court process or a law itself breaches your fundamental rights, Maltese law allows you to seek a remedy before the courts.
We advise individuals and companies on the rights protected by Chapter IV of the Constitution of Malta and by the European Convention on Human Rights, and represent them before the First Hall of the Civil Court in its constitutional jurisdiction, the Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights.
- Case assessment
- Whether a right has been breached, which remedy is the right one (constitutional proceedings, judicial review or another route) and the realistic prospects.
- Constitutional proceedings
- Filing and conducting the case at first instance and on appeal, including requests for interim measures.
- Property and old rent laws
- Owners of properties let under the pre-1995 rent laws, and owners affected by expropriation, who received rent or compensation far below market value. We seek a declaration that their rights were breached, compensation, and an order that the protected tenancy cannot continue on the same terms.
- Rights in criminal cases
- Unlawful arrest and detention, denial of a lawyer, fair trial and the presumption of innocence.
- Decisions of public authorities
- Immigration and residence, licences, employment and disciplinary decisions taken without a fair hearing or out of proportion to their aim.
- Excessive court delays
- Claims where proceedings have not been decided within a reasonable time.
- European Court of Human Rights
- Admissibility, exhaustion of domestic remedies, and applications within the four-month time limit.
- Compensation and enforcement
- Quantifying damages and making sure the judgment is carried out.
Other practice areas