The elements of the 'actio manutentionis', to what extent is this action available also to mere detentors?

Abstract

The 'actio manutentionis' is one of the four 'actiones possessoriae' which defend and protect possession both if it is joined and if it is separate from the right, defending possession against any person, and even against the owner himself. The rational basis behind them is the necessity of forbidding violence and arbitrary molestations against the possessor, and also in protecting public order where no one can take the law into one's own hands. This nature of public order was enunciated by the Court of Appeal in Muscat versus Farrugia (1956) - Volume XL.11.897, where the possessory action is founded on the necessity of social utility, rather than any absolute principle of justice, to prevent the private citizen from taking justice into his hands.