Event Participation Archives - aditus foundation

The Anti-SLAPP Directive: A Good fit for Maltese Law?

Earlier in 2023, the Chamber of Advocates and aditus Foundation delivered an information session on the growing phenomenon of litigation aimed at stifling public participation, more commonly called SLAPPs.

Since that date, the European Parliament has approved a first draft of the Anti-SLAPP Directive (Directive 2022/0117), which was subsequently referred to the European Council – which in turn appears to favour a watered-down version of the proposed directive. The final text of the Directive is not yet approved, and will depend on the feedback received from the various member states if it is to be amended.

Human rights at the borders training: our Legal Officer reports!

Last month, I had the privilege to participate in a training organised by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights on the topic of Human Rights at International Borders: Monitoring, Safety and Security of Human Rights Defenders.

This week was a unique opportunity to take a step back from my daily duties as a Legal Officer at aditus foundation. In fact, it is extremely easy to get caught up in the busyness of providing legal assistance to the most at need in a period when migration policies are increasingly austere. I believe it is crucial to dedicate some time to think about what we do, why we do it, and how we do it in order to have the ‘bigger picture’ in mind and achieve greater goals.

Brussels Anti-SLAPP Legal training: Experiences from the PATFox Project

On 28 February 2023, the PATFox’s consortium organised a conference Anti-SLAPP Legal training: Experiences from the PATFox Project, at the premises of the European Parliament. The project Pioneering anti-SLAPP Training for Freedom of Expression (PATFox), co- funded by the European Commission, is pioneering the Europe’s first anti-SLAPP training, upskilling the lawyers representing journalists and human rights defenders against those litigating to shut down legitimate criticism in 11 EU member states (Spain, Germany, Malta, Bulgaria, Hungary, Croatia, Romania, Slovakia, Cyprus, Poland and Slovenia). aditus foundation is the Malta partner of the PATFox Consortium.

‘On speaking queerly in public’: message from a visit to a US church

A few days ago I visited the Dumbarton United Methodist Church in Georgetown, Washington D.C. We have a fantastic exchange with Reverend Cornwell and other church members, talking about how churches can (and should) be welcoming and safe spaces LGBGTIQ+ people.

At the end of our visit, Reverend Cornwell read out the below message, ‘On speaking queerly in public’.

Every time the word “gay” rolls off my tongue. when the words “queer” or “intersex” or “‘trans” or “nonbinary” or “bisexual” bless my lips…no matter what I’m talking about, I am also, always, sending a love letter, casting a lifeline, praying a prayer, and yes, obviously, waving a flag.

So many generations of silence and slurs, of words of violence and of quiet, lonely does-anyone-else-in-the-world-feel-this-way? My heart could burst every time I speak the imperfect but earnest attempts at finding ways to communicate lineages of “us.” Every word, a reaching toward each other. A “you’re not alone” or a “we got each other” and a “isn’t it divine, being this way?”

It’s never too early to start teaching this love language and planting these seeds of assurance…Train a child up in the way they should go, says the scriptures. And I want them all to go queerly, go freely, go in belonging.

I want us to raise a whole generation of kids who never learn to hate themselves. Or to treat others like monsters. Or that there’s anyone even god is against.
M Barclay

This is indeed part of my queer agenda: To expose children as early as possible to all the possibilities of their beautiful becoming. To leave no doubt that whichever way their love blossoms and their gender blooms and their body unfurls, they will be protected, cherished, celebrated, loved.

In the world as it is, to even begin to balance out all the messages otherwise, these things cannot be said enough. So we say them in every form they take across languages and cultures. We say them as early and as often as we can. We say them, especially, when they’re not welcome. We say them with all the love we’ve got and we will never, never stop.

M Barclay, enfleshed

I am visiting the United States on an International Visitor Leadership Program: Advancing Minority Rights. The programme is organised by the US State Department, with thanks to the US Embassy in Malta.

Visiting the United States to discuss strategies for protection of minority rights

I am currently in the United States on an International Visitor Leadership Programme (IVLP) looking at how to strategise to better advocate for minority rights. I will be here for a total of three weeks, visiting Washington D.C., Montana, Oregon and San Francisco. Throughout the three weeks, we will be meeting State officials, NGOs and academics to discuss the current global situation in relation to minority rights and how we can better advocate for their protection.

At the moment I am in Washington D.C., part of a small group composed of other European human rights leaders. Our group is a mixed one, including human rights lawyers, an anti-discrimination official, an anti-Semitism educator, a Romani activist, a municipal consultant, a ‘LGBTIQ+ Muslim’ activist and a member of the Sami Parliament. We are all committed to advancing minority rights and so far our discussions – in meetings but also over beers and food – have exposed us all to the realities faced by the groups we work with and for.