Archive for August 2009

Poll: Secular State or Subtle Theocracy? Article 2 of the Constitution of Malta

By | Published Monday, August 31, 2009

Article 2 of the Constitution states the following:


(1) The religion of Malta is the Roman Catholic Apostolic Religion.

(2) The authorities of the Roman Catholic Apostolic Church have the duty and the right to teach which principles are right and which are wrong.


(3) Religious teaching of the Roman Catholic Apostolic Faith shall be provided in all State schools as part of compulsory education.


In simple and crude terms this Article imposes upon an entire nation a specific belief-system, a.k.a state religion. Furthermore it gives to the Roman Catholic Church unfettered constitutional authority in matters of ethics and morality which it would obviously interpret and preach according to its dogma. This is a big reason why it proving to be so difficult to introduce basic civil rights, such as divorce, in Malta. Sub-article (3) is self-explanatory.


I fully respect and would also defend the Church's right to participate in social discourse as well as its right to publicly preach its values through its institutions. However:


I believe that the Roman Catholic faith is one creed amongst many which should be respected and tolerated in equal measure. It should not be singled out by the State, despite the fact that it is the most popular religion;


I believe in a secular state which takes decisions without recourse to religious doctrine This Article begs the question as to whether Malta is truly secular or what I term a 'subtle theocracy';


I believe that choosing one's religion is ultimately a private choice made by mature individuals and should never be imposed at birth. Catholic morality is not a universal answer to moral problems but only one of many answers and should likewise never be imposed upon anyone;


I believe that religion as an academic subject shouldn't be exclusively about the Roman Catholic faith but about different belief systems, how they came about and how they affect people's lives. The sociological, anthropoligical and psychological perspectives of religion should therefore accompany the theological perspective.


This is why I voted yes to repealing Article 2 of the Constitution of Malta in the poll to the right.


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Lessons of democracy from Brazil

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Brazil's "popular action" allows any citizen to take a legitimate part in a proposed appeal against any (administrative) act prejudicial to public interests, or that of an agency in which the State is a partner; or to administrative morality; the environment; and the historical and cultural heritage. The author of the act--unless shown to have acted in bad faith--is exempted from the payment of judicial costs.


Malta has a similar provision in Article 116 of the Constitution although it certainly does not go as far as the Brazilian provision for it only gives individuals the right to make an action against the State for passing invalid, unconstitutional laws. It certainly does not mention 'administrative morality, the environment and historical and cultural heritage'. The Maltese 'popular action' also states that individuals do not need to show any personal/judicial interest to bring such an action. However our Courts have stubbornly dismissed many cases on the grounds that the claimants showed no personal interest in the matter and this despite the wording of the law.



The popular action is a great democratic tool for it empowers citizens themselves to 'check and balance' State institutions when they fall astray. In Malta it is all the more necessary in times of severe maladministration especially with regards to the environment and development.



Before reforming MEPA perhaps we should take a lesson from Brazil whose level of democratic participation and administrative accountability seems to surpass that of Malta.

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A smart university for a smart Malta

By | Published Wednesday, August 26, 2009

All post-graduate law students, i.e. students wishing to enroll for the LLD course have been asked to register for their credits by not later than next Monday, 31st of August. Consequentially a list of subjects and their corresponding value in credits has been issued. However, no course catalogue containing a description of what the subjects entail, who the lecturers are and how the subject is assessed throughout the year exists. One remedy for this ridiculous shortcoming is by checking the relevant information via the online University of Malta portal esims. However, the latter is not updated and certain credits are not even in the database.


The result is practically the following: the student is given a list of subjects to choose from (aside from a set of compulsory subjects) and he must do so blindly. The only little information that he or she can maybe use to his or her advantage comes from the name itself. But what if the subject name sounded interesting but the content was dreadfully boring? Would it be my fault for choosing it? What if I'd rather avoid lectures with this or that particular lecturer? What if I'd rather avoid having oral examinations? Don't I have a right to know such basic information before being asked to choose?


Quite frankly, I don't care who is behind it, but there are no excuses for this administrative failure.


How can Malta excel when the institution that is supposed to support students neglects them? On the other hand students should make their voice heard on issues such as this.

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Two shortcomings of the justice system

By | Published Sunday, August 23, 2009

The Maltese justice system can boast of a long and proud history but is not without problems. Of immediate concern are two shortcomings which I am about to relate.


The first concerns constitutionality of certain laws and procedures. Certain laws and legal/administrative procedures have been deemed to be unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court of Malta yet such laws and procedures still persist. Take for example Article 4 of the Ninth Schedule of the Value Added Tax Act (Chapter 406) which states that "An appeal against an assessment shall not be valid unless...an amount of five percent of the tax which is in dispute in terms of that appeal or one hundred euro, whichever is the higher, has been paid..." This means that a person who cannot afford such payment will in theory be denied a right of appeal. In several judgments the Constitutional Court has deemed such an imposition to be contrary to Article 39 of the Constitution and Article 6 of the European Convention as it denies one's right to a fair hearing. I think the percentage used to be higher before recent amendments but nonetheless the imposition is, in theory, still unconstitutional. Moreover, we are not talking about lawyer and court fees here but a condition for appeal.


The second concerns the efficiency of justice. We are still faced with a situation of never-ending cases-loads and law suits which take several years (at times well over a decade) until judgment is given. Thus, the entire concept of 'reasonable time' imposed by Article 6 of the European Convention is thrown out the window and seems to have no application in Malta. The wording of the law may be deceptive in that it gives one the right "to a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time" but it is an established principle of natural justice that judgment should also be delivered in a reasonable time.


In my opinion both shortcomings amount to a serious breach of the fundamental human right to a fair hearing and they need to be addressed with more urgency.


I wonder, does a task force or parliamentary committee which assesses and reviews legislation which has been deemed to be unconstitutional by the Courts exist? If not, it's about time one is set up and equipped with the necessary means and resources to do a thorough job.


We also need to take concrete action and adopt a uniform and harmonious position on what constitutes 'reasonable time' and consequentially adopt a more rigid enforcement of such time.

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