Recently, the holders of Operator Licences have encountered several problems with respect to their garaging facilities. This is because of the lack of sufficient garaging spaces that they possess to accommodate the vehicles covered under the said operator licences as stipulated by Transport Malta’s regulations. Consequently, Transport Malta notified all the respective Operator Licence holders that their Operator Licences would be suspended unless those affected by such warning regularised their position or submitted representations in writing before such Authority.
Thus, the respective Operator Licence holders were put in a burdened position because they had to take immediate action to try to resolve such a situation as otherwise their Operator Licences were going to be suspended.
Two key considerations arise from this decision. Firstly, the suspension of these Operator Licences presents an opportunity to reflect on the proportionality of such measures, particularly in instances where Operators had already begun addressing the relevant requirements. For example, some had started the process to obtain the designation as a Public Service Garage. Additionally, by such suspension such Operators were going to incur a hefty financial loss and ultimately the employees who worked with such Operators were also going to suffer because their income was going to drastically decrease. Additionally, because the service offered by the Operators was critical and this because the Operators worked in the Public Transport industry, such suspension was going to create a public disservice especially because the touristic period had started.
Reference should also be made to the respective piece of subsidiary legislation that regulates such Operators, that is, the ‘Light Passenger Transport Services and Vehicle Hire Services Regulations’, Subsidiary Legislation 499.68. More specifically, regulation 12(2) that states the following:
‘’ (2) An operator’s licence may be suspended or withdrawn on any of the following grounds:
(a) where the holder has supplied incorrect information to the Authority in relation to the issuance of a licence or any other matter connected thereto; or
(b) where the holder has breached any of the conditions of the licence and has not remedied such breach in spite of having been given written notice of the breach and a reasonable time in which to do so:
Provided that, unless there exist gross acts of misconduct or negligence or any other serious grounds for immediate suspension, withdrawal or revocation, the operative date of such notice shall be not less than twenty-eight days from the date of notification.’’
In many cases, such Operators did not perform any gross acts of misconduct or negligence or any other serious grounds for immediate suspension, withdrawal or revocation. Thus, and according to the abovementioned proviso, the suspension could not come into effect before twenty-eight days passed from the date of the notification of such suspension.
Reference should also be made to regulation 12(6) of such Subsidiary Legislation which states the following:
‘’(6) A suspension or revocation in terms of this regulation shall be effected by the Authority of its own motion or by order of a court of criminal jurisdiction:
Provided that, where the Authority intends to suspend or revoke an operator’s licence of its own motion, it shall give the operator concerned notice in writing setting out the reasons for its intention to do so. Every notice given shall state that the operator concerned may, within ten (10) days from service thereof, make representations in writing to the Authority giving reasons why the operator’s licence should not be suspended or revoked and the Authority shall consider any representations so made before arriving at a final decision. The Authority shall notify in writing its final decision to the operator concerned. The operator concerned shall have the right to appeal to the Tribunal against the decision of the Authority to suspend or revoke the operator’s licence within twenty (20) days from notification of the Authority’s decision:
Provided further that the suspension of the licence shall have immediate effect notwithstanding any appeal therefrom, unless otherwise ordered by the Tribunal or by a court of criminal jurisdiction….’’
Through a careful analysis of the second proviso of such regulation the suspension of the licence will take effect immediately, even if an appeal is filed, unless the Tribunal or a criminal court order otherwise. Thus, that is why it was important for such Operators to appeal their case before the Administrative Tribunal so that it could give the appropriate order. Such right emerges from the above-mentioned regulation.
In conclusion, Transport Malta’s role in overseeing the regularisation of Operator Licence holders is clear; however, it may be worth considering whether the process could have incorporated additional measures to support a proportionate outcome.
本文仅供参考，不应被视为法律建议。.
Article written by Dr Mariah Ann Fenech, LL.B.(Hons.)(Melit.) M.Adv (Melit.), an Associate Lawyer at Sciberras Advocates.
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