Man’s request for renewal of bus driver’s licence turned down

A man who challenged a decision taken by the Malta Transport Authority after it rejected his request to renew his driver’s licence, had the decision reconfirmed after filing an appeal before the Administrative Review Tribunal.

Last December, James Agius was informed of the decision by the Malta Transport Authority on the bases of a conviction related to a traffic offence.

Exactly one year before, in December 2015, Mr Agius had been arraigned in court over driving without a valid licence and failing to renew it after the licence had expired. He was found guilty of all charges.

In his defence, Mr Agius argued that he genuinely forgot to renew his licence, which had apparently, been taken into consideration when the courts were deliberating his verdict.

Taking the case before the Administrative Review Tribunal, the Transport Authority made the argument that Mr Agius’ licence was not to be renewed on the basis that he failed to satisfy one crucial criteria: Good conduct.

According to the Transport Authority, anybody applying for a renewal is considered not to be of good conduct if that person had been convicted of a traffic violation in the two years preceding the individual’s application.

On its part, the Administrative Review Tribunal sided with the Transport Authority, upholding its arguments in relation to good conduct. The tribunal, presided by Magistrate Charmaine Galea, Mr Alfred Perini and Dr Andrew Sciberras noted that the court of magistrate’s decision to reprimand Mr Agius, in the December 2015 judgement, constituted a declaration of guilt, despite the minimal punishment attached.

Therefore, the court held that in view of the guilty verdict, the ‘good conduct’ argument is just.

In its comments, the Tribunal acknowledged the serious fall out of such a decision, especially if Mr Agius’ sole earnings hinge on the renewal of his licence, the law may not leave room for other interpretation in this regard.

Despite rejecting the appeal, the Tribunal demanded that a copy of the judgement be sent to the Transport Minister in order to allow for the possibility of remedy.