Keeping one's word : the protection of legitimate expectations in administrative law

Abstract

A review of Maltese Administrative Law cases does not reveal anything like a plethora of cases where the central issue is the failure of the public authorities to 'keep their word'. Such cases are, for some reason which I will not venture to discover in this article, rather hard to come by. This is not to say that such issues are unknown to our Courts. Over the years our Courts have in fact been called upon to decide disputes relating to the unilateral changing of street levels, the refusal to respect a contractual right to use a theatre on alleged grounds of public order, the unwelcome amendment or revocation of building permits or driving licenses, and a number of disputes as to the binding implications of particular authorizations especially in the field of import licensing.