Fenech & Fenech Advocates is pleased to have assisted the former opposition leader Dr Adrian Delia in obtaining a hard-hitting decision from the Court of Appeal annulling the transfer of three state hospitals for a period of 30 years (renewable) by temporary emphyteusis to Vitals Global Healthcare Assets Limited.

On the 23 October 2023 , the Court of Appeal confirmed the decision made by the First Hall, Civil Court in the case Onor. Kap tal-Opposizzjoni Avukat Adrian Delia vs Onor. Prim Ministru ta’ Malta Joseph Muscat et. where the former opposition leader requested the annulment and revocation of the abovementioned contracts due to the breach of conditions entered into under various key related instruments, where promised investment in the country’s health infrastructure failed to materialise, with all concession milestones missed. In a damning decision, the Court of Appeal rubbished insinuations of political bias in the judiciary made by the Appellants and flagged that the application of appeal contained veiled threats against the judiciary. On the merits, the Court of Appeal went beyond the pronouncements of the First Court, rejecting the assertion that the State was naïve in its negotiations, and instead found that there was collusion between the concessionaires and high-level persons in Government/ Government Agencies who entered into simulated contracts, void of any genuine legal foundation.

In a powerful win for democracy, the Court of Appeal confirmed that this element of collusion and simulation, gave the Opposition Leader, as a member of parliament the necessary standing at law (locus standi) under Article 33(2) of Chapter 573 to request the revocation and annulment of the contracts having proven that they were entered into for ulterior motives and were not made in the interest of the country. Furthermore, the Court of Appeal refuted the arguments posed by the appellant companies that there was an assignment of the concession and related obligations from Vitals entities to Steward entities with the Court declaring that the two companies were in fact the same entity.

The Court of Appeal partially revoked the first court’s decision where it attributed criminal intentions to the shareholders and ordered a redistribution in the payment of costs between the defendants. The First Court’s decision was otherwise confirmed in its entirety.

Dr Adrian Delia was assisted by Dr Edward DeBono and Dr Nicholas DeBono.