‘Seriously ill’ man threatens to sue for breach of rights in 43-year long case

A 43-Year Legal Odyssey: Maltese Man’s Battle for Justice Reaches Boiling Point
By Hot Malta Newsroom

Valletta – In a case that has outlasted eight prime ministers, three popes and the entire run of Xarabank, a 63-year-old Għargħur man is threatening to sue the Maltese state for “gross breach of fundamental rights” after four decades of legal ping-pong that began when the island still flew the Union Jack.

The plaintiff, known in court filings only as “Mr. A.F.” to protect his medical privacy, was first hauled before a magistrate in 1981 on minor fraud charges related to a family-run import business. What followed, according to a 312-page sworn affidavit filed last week in the First Hall of the Civil Court, is a Kafkaesque odyssey of missing files, adjournments, re-assigned judges and a 1989 court-room ceiling collapse that literally buried the original evidence under two tonnes of limestone dust.

“He has spent more time in waiting rooms than most of us spend at the beach,” quipped his lawyer, Dr. Marlene Zahra, outside the gleaming new courts building on Republic Street. “My client is seriously ill—cardiac complications triggered by stress—and yet the state keeps asking for ‘one more adjournment’. Forty-three years is not justice, it’s a national embarrassment.”

Local Context: A Culture That Reveres Patience—Until It Doesn’t
Maltese society prizes stoic endurance; our national motto, “Virtute et constantia”, is etched into passports and schoolyard walls alike. But even the most devout believer in biding one’s time has limits. Mr. A.F.’s story has lit up WhatsApp groups from Siġġiewi to St Julian’s precisely because it tests that cultural boundary.

Grandmothers who once whispered “ħaqq Alla, ikollna paċenzja” now share memes of a sandglass wearing a powdered wig. University students perform skits in the quad re-enacting key courtroom delays, using għonnella cloaks as comic props. The case has become shorthand for institutional inertia—our version of Jarndyce v Jarndyce, but with pastizzi breaks.

Community Impact: From Band Clubs to the Bishop’s Palace
At the Għargħur feast last weekend, the local band club swapped its traditional set list for a satirical medley titled “Il-Qorti Waltz”, each bar representing another year of limbo. Meanwhile, the parish priest devoted half his homily to “the sin of bureaucratic sloth”, urging worshippers to sign a petition demanding a public inquiry. By Tuesday evening, volunteers had collected 11,000 signatures—roughly the entire population of the village and its summer tourists combined.

The Chamber of Advocates weighed in too, warning that Malta’s EU membership obligations under Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights are “hanging by a thread”. Sources inside the Office of the Attorney General admit privately that the case is “radioactive” ahead of Malta’s upcoming Universal Periodic Review at the UN.

A Systemic Symptom
Legal scholars point out that Mr. A.F.’s ordeal is not an isolated glitch but a symptom of deeper structural cracks: chronic understaffing (Malta has one magistrate for every 18,000 residents), paper archives still yellowing in humid basements, and a culture of oral adjournments that can stretch a morning hearing into a multi-decade saga.

Yet the human toll is what resonates on the ground. “I was 12 when my father first walked into that courtroom,” Mr. A.F.’s eldest daughter told Hot Malta outside their modest townhouse, voice cracking. “I’m 55 now, retired from teaching, and my kids tease me about inheriting the case like some twisted family heirloom.”

What Happens Next?
Dr. Zahra has given the state 30 days to set a definitive trial date or face a constitutional claim for damages that could reach seven figures. The Ministry for Justice, led by newly appointed minister Byron Camilleri, issued a terse statement promising “urgent internal review” while reminding reporters that “certain procedural complexities remain under seal”.

But in the court of public opinion, the verdict is already in. A straw poll conducted by Lovin Malta shows 87 % support for a one-off “Justice Acceleration Act” that would fast-track dormant cases older than 10 years. NGOs are planning a candlelight vigil beneath the Triton Fountain on Sunday, the 43rd anniversary to the day since Mr. A.F. first stepped into the dock.

Conclusion
Malta may be the EU’s smallest state, but our capacity for epic sagas—from the Great Siege to the hunt for Daphne’s killers—has always punched above its weight. The question now is whether we channel that narrative energy into reform or allow another citizen to be swallowed by the very system meant to protect him. As the sun sets over the Grand Harbour, one thing is clear: after 43 years, patience has finally run out.