The El Hiblu 1 Case

On 30 March 2019 three teenage migrants – aged 15, 16 and 19 – were charged before Malta’s Courts. The most serious charges include acts of terrorism. If found guilty, they’ll spend the rest of their lives in prison.

They were rescued by a commercial vessel, the El Hiblu 1. Despite promises that they would be delivered to safety, the El Hiblu 1 sailed to Libya. Upon realising what had happened, the rescued migrants protested.

They simply couldn’t be returned to the horrible treatment they’d been suffering in Libya.

They need your help.



Malta’s review under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child – (2) Concluding Observations

This second article summarizes the Concluding Observations on Malta issued by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and follows our first article that focused on shadow reports submitted by civil society organizations and other stakeholders.

All the review documents (State Report, List of Issues, Civil Society Input, List of Delegation, Concluding Observations) may be found on the OHCHR site, under Malta.

What are Concluding Observations?

Malta is required to submit regular state reports to the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) on how rights provided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child are implemented. Following an analysis of these reports and of the shadow reports presented by interested entities, the CRC adopted Concluding Observations on Malta wherein it presented its concerns and recommendations.

Concluding Observations should be widely publicised in the State party as they serve as a basis for national debates on the improvement in the enjoyment by children of their fundamental human rights. Malta is also expected to follow up the recommendations provided in the Concluding Observations, as these will be looked at in the Committee’s next review.

What did the Committee on the Rights of the Child say about Malta?

Several topics were addressed by the Committee, including the allocation of resources, cooperation with civil society, children’s rights and the business sector, civil rights and freedoms, family environment and alternative care, disability, basic health and welfare, violence, non-discrimination, leisure and cultural activities, special protection measures and administration of juvenile justice. The Committee based its Concluding Observations on national and shadow reports, as summed up in our first article focusing on reports submitted by civil society organizations and other stakeholders.

Continue Reading

Malta’s review under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child – (1) Shadow Reports

This is the first of two articles bring you information on Malta’s review by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. In this article we’re looking at shadow reports submitted by civil society organisations and other stakeholders, whilst in the second article we’ll be summarising the Committee’s Concluding Observations on Malta.

What is the Convention on the Rights of the Child?

On 20 November 1989, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which came into force on 2 September 1990. This Convention is composed of 41 articles and guarantees children of State Parties rights, separately from adulthood, that are classified in different themes.

Indeed, the Convention provides children survival rights (e.g. the right to life and basic needs such as nutrition or medical services), development rights (e.g. education, play, culture, freedom of thought, conscience or religion), protection rights (e.g. protecting children against exploitation, harm, neglect, abuse, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, protection in employment) and participation rights (e.g. freedom of association and freedom of peaceful assembly).

Thus, “the world’s most widely ratified human rights treaty in history” provides children until the age of 18 a special protected time, “in which (they) must be allowed to grow, learn, play, develop and flourish with dignity”.

Continue Reading

Innocent Until Proven Guilty? – The Presentation of Suspects in Criminal Proceedings

aditus foundation invites the public to participate in an informal discussion on the importance of how suspects are presented in Court and in the media and the impact that this may have on the presumption of innocence.

This activity closes The Importance of Appearances: How Suspects and Accused Persons are presented in the Courtroom, in Public and in the Media project implemented by the aditus foundation, Hungarian Helsinki Committee and their partners. For further information on the project, visit our project page: Importance of Appearances.

Panel:

Justice Silvio Meli – retired judge with 29 years of experience in the Maltese courts
Dr. Arthur Azzopardi – practicing criminal lawyer in the Courts of Malta
Dr. Kevin Sammut Henwood – forensic psychologist & lecturer at UoM
Yannick Pace – Chairperson of the Institute for Maltese Journalists & journalist
Monique Agius – Journalist with Newsbook

The panelists will discuss the importance of how suspects are presented in court and in the media and the impact that these may have on the presumption of innocence.

When: Wednesday 26 June 2019 @ 16:00 – 17:30
Where: Valletta Campus, University of Malta Valletta

Participation is open to the public and free of charge. Refreshments will be served.

Measures of Restraint

This project is funded by the European Union’s Justice Programme (2014 – 2020)


Support our legal work!

Click to support us!

Your donation will allow us to:

  • provide, for free, legal information and advice to persons who are are unable to pay a private lawyer or who are unable to obtain a Government Legal Aid Lawyer;
  • file cases before the Courts of Law. Your donation will allow one of our lawyers to prepare, file and follow up the Court application;
  • pay interpreters to allow us to communicate with some of our clients;
  • seek sources of funding that require us to provide a share of the total project amount (so-called ‘co-financing requirement’);
  • pay our monthly office rent, without which we’d be a homeless NGO!
  • keep our staff and interns warm in winter, cool in summer!
  • remain connected to the Internet…and over the phone!