Robert Musumeci. Avukat - Perit

28/05/2026

Democratic representation is not only about counting votes. It is also about ensuring that the electoral system produces legitimacy, fairness and inclusion.

In this article, I look at ’s journey from STV to the corrective mechanisms introduced after 1981, and eventually to the gender corrective mechanism under Article 52A of the .

The central point is that Malta’s electoral model is not a pure mechanical system. It is a layered constitutional structure: STV preserves voter choice, while corrective mechanisms seek to ensure that reflects broader fairness.

Meanwhile, the recent judgment on the gender corrective mechanism instituted by ADPD is particularly important.

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Democracy is more than a mechanical process; it is a political ethic grounded in representation, legitimacy, and fairness. Malta’s electoral architecture has undergone successive recalibrations—not to depart from its democratic foundations, but to preserve their spirit in the face of evolving po...

19/05/2026

I am pleased to share that my latest on expropriation has been published in GħSL - Malta Law Students' Society 'Id-Dritt'.

In this 32 page article, I examine the intricacies of expropriation in , from the requirement of public purpose to the detailed workings of Chapter 573 of the Laws of Malta.

The article proceeds article by article and refers to numerous Maltese and judgments, with the aim of offering a structured and practical account of one of the most sensitive areas of law and .

15/05/2026

In my view, the Planning Authority Tribunal remains appellate in name and jurisdiction. It is not generally transformed into a planning directorate. It is not given a roving power to process applications as though it were the Authority.

But where an appeal is already pending, where the has ordered the EPRT to reconsider that appeal, and where the missing material is necessary for that reconsideration, the Tribunal may have to gather the material itself.

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There is a quiet irony in the judgment delivered by the Court of Appeal on 4 May 2026 in Ludwig Camilleri v. L-Awtorità tal-Ippjanar. Planning law usually speaks in neat institutional categories. The Planning Authority decides applications. The Environment and Planning Review Tribunal reviews those...

12/05/2026

Why it makes sense for the vendor to furnish the Land Registry Plan.

This is strictly my view and there is nothing in the of which encourages such thinking.

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The importance of a plan attached to a contract of sale is not limited to properties situated within a Land Registration Area. That is only one context in which the plan assumes formal registration importance. The wider legal point is more fundamental: a plan annexed to a promise of sale or final de...

08/05/2026

It is often said, rather loosely, that Planning Authority may be “overruled” by commitment. The statement is convenient, but it is also imprecise.

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It is often said, rather loosely, that planning policy may be “overruled” by commitment. The statement is convenient, but it is also imprecise. Commitment is not a planning loophole. Nor is it a licence to ignore policy simply because similar development has already been permitted somewhere near...

01/05/2026

This is not written to side with Labour or PN. It is not an argument for the party which is ahead in , nor against the party which is behind.

It is about when the bandwagon effect enters the framework.

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Most of the time, I write about public, civil law and, or planning law. This subject may look more political, but it is still close to law. Elections are not merely contests between parties. They are moments in which democratic authority is renewed. For that reason, the way voters form their opinion...

21/04/2026

This is not a comment on the merits of the Hungarian law. It is a comment on the constitutional significance of the CJEU’s judgment of 21 April 2026 in Commission v Hungary (C-769/22).

What makes the case so striking is not that the Charter now applies to every national law. Formally, Article 51 still stands. What is striking is something else: once an EU-law nexus was found, the was prepared to treat Article 2 TEU not as abstract rhetoric, but as an enforceable judicial standard against a Member State.

That is why the judgment feels like a watershed. Not because EU law has been openly redefined, but because the boundary between conferred competence and value-based review now appears thinner than I always assumed.

09/04/2026

Article 495A of 's is one of the provisions that attracts the most public interest, and with good reason. One of the questions most frequently asked is whether one co-owner may buy out the others under this article. The answer, at least under the as it presently stands, led the to say no. Third parties may do so, but co-owners themselves may not.

Yet it would not be surprising if, one day, the legislator were to revisit this position and amend the law so as to make such an outcome clearly possible.

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Article 495A of the Civil Code is used when co-owners reach a deadlock. This happens when property held in common cannot be used, divided, or managed because the co-owners do not agree. In such situations, the law allows the majority to ask the Court to order a sale so that the co-ownership comes to...

06/04/2026

The reappointment of an appeal by the Planning Authority Tribunal [EPRT] is not, in itself, sufficient to displace a prior inference of abandonment.

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The doctrine of deżerzjoni in Maltese planning law is often approached as if it were a technical rule tied to time or formal defaults. The decision in Carmelo Borg vs Planning Authority (Court of Appeal, Inferior Jurisdiction, 4 December 2025) demonstrates that this is an incomplete understanding. ...

01/04/2026

As the Ombudsman said in his latest 2026 press release, has been bound by Protocol No. 12 for years, yet people still cannot rely on it before Maltese .

In principle, that creates a gap in protection — rights should be enforceable at home, not only in Strasbourg.

But at the policy level, may see things rather differently.

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Judge Zammit McKeon is right. As the Ombudsman said in its 2026 press release, Malta has been bound by Protocol No. 12 for years, yet people still cannot rely on it before Maltese courts. In principle, that creates a gap in protection — rights should be enforceable at home, not only in Strasbourg....