Cap. 16 Art. 1613Sub-letting.

(1) In the absence of other special provisions, the contract of subletting is regulated by the same provisions which regulate the contract of letting and hiring:

Provided that in the case of the sub-letting of commercial tenements before the 1st June, 1995, these shall be terminated on the 31st May, 2018 subject to the provisions of this article unless done by agreement with the lessor, in which case such sub-lettings shall be regulated by such agreement: Provided further that the lease shall be established according to that laid down in article 1513D.

(2) In the absence of an agreement between the lessee and the person who is the sub-lessee before the 31st May, 2018 who has an interest in remaining in the tenement in case of a sub-lease that expires on the 31st May, 2018, where the sub-leased tenement consists of commercial premises which in the year preceding the 31st May, 2018 is managed by the sub-lessee, the person who before the 31st May, 2018 was the sub-lessee shall have the right to continue managing his business from the tenement, under those conditions as may be determined by the Rent Regulation Board, for such period as may be established by the Board which shall not be longer than the period of the lease or be more than ten years, whichever is the shorter.

(3) A request for the sub-lessee to continue managing his business from the leased tenement shall be made by means of an application filed before the Rent Regulation Board by not later than the 31st May, 2018 and that application shall contain the reasons for which it is made. The Board shall not accede to the request unless the applicant satisfies the Board that he will suffer serious prejudice if he does not continue to manage his business from the tenement.

(4) The application made by the sub-lessee in accordance with sub-article (3) shall be notified to the owner and the lessee who shall have the right to oppose the request.

(5) The hearing of the application referred to in sub-articles (3) and (4) shall be regulated by the rules of procedure applicable to applications filed before the Rent Regulation Board, without prejudice to the Board’s right, at any stage of the proceedings, to establish or change the amount of compensation which the person who was the sub-lessee before the 31st May, 2018 is obliged to pay to the owner or to the lessee or both while the proceedings are pending. There will be no right of appeal from the decree establishing the said compensation.

(6) If the Board accedes to the request for the applicant to continue managing his business from the premises, as previously laid down in this article, the Board shall establish the rent for the period after the 31st May, 2018 at an amount which is in accordance with the value that the tenement could fetch if this were to be leased on the market by its owner for the use that was being made thereof during the year immediately preceding the 31st May,