Stella Maris band club owners awarded €1.16m compensation

The Constitutional Court has set the compensation due to the heirs of the owners of the Sliema building used by the Stella Maris Band Club at €1,159,100, Talk.mt reported on Tuesday 27 October. The sum is to be paid by the State Attorney.

The building, in Pjazza Annunzjata (Annunciation Square), was leased to the band club in 1959 for Lm150 a year, TVM News reported last year. The owners' heirs, 13 members of one family according to TVM, argued that their fundamental rights had been breached because for years they could not enjoy the building or receive adequate rent for it.

In March 2025, the First Hall of the Civil Court, presided over by Judge Ian Spiteri Bailey, found in the heirs' favour and ordered the State Attorney to pay them about €1.1 million, clearing the band club of responsibility, TVM reported. According to Talk.mt, the pecuniary award then was €1,102,385. Both the heirs and the State Attorney appealed; the heirs sought €3.4 million in pecuniary compensation.

On appeal, the Constitutional Court, made up of Chief Justice Mark Chetcuti and Judges Anthony Ellul and Robert Mangion, raised the pecuniary compensation to €1,159,100, Talk.mt reported. In setting the amount, the court took into account factors including the site's potential, the social purpose of the law and the rent that had been paid.

The State Attorney had argued that the €450,000 paid when the government bought the building covered the remaining years of the lease. The court held that this sum did not cover the owners' right to compensation for the breach of their fundamental rights, according to Talk.mt.

The government bought the building on 28 February 2023 for €450,000 under an agreement with the owners, after a court had ordered the band club to vacate it in November 2022. The purchase stopped the eviction, TVM reported.