EVENT: The Anti-SLAPP Directive: A good fit for Maltese law?

Event Outline:

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.

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Changing gears in our advocacy: Strategic Plan 2022 – 2024

This piece is taken from our recently published Annual Report 2022, where we shared our Strategic Plan for 2022 – 2024.

2022 was the first year of our new three-year Strategic Plan (2022 – 2024). For years, we have been taking small steps towards become more targeted and structured in our work. Whilst we are happy to be a human rights NGO looking at horizontal and structural issues, this broad approach presents resource and prioritisation challenges. If unseen to, it runs the risk of reducing our impact and demotivating our team members.

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Joint Statement: NGOs call on Member States and European Parliament: Go no Lower: Reject the Use of Legal Loopholes in EU Asylum Law Reforms

The Member States and European Parliament, the EU’s co-legislators, are moving forward with a reform of EU asylum law in the form of the Pact on Migration and Asylum which reduces protection standards and undermines human rights of asylum seekers in Europe. But not only.

Some EU Member States are seeking to revive an additional proposal on “instrumentalisation” launched in 2021, which would allow them to derogate from their obligations in cases of alleged “instrumentalisation of migrants”, thereby undermining harmonisation and the common system. For more detail, see this analysis and statement.

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We’ve just published Malta’s asylum statistics for 2022

We are publishing a table with Malta’s asylum statistics for 2022. It should not be an NGO doing this, but neither the International Protection Agency nor the Home Affairs Ministry publish asylum statistics, either annually or on a regular basis.

What are we publishing?

In the AIDA report for Malta covering 2022, we included data relating to Malta’s asylum procedure. The report contains information on new applications and decisions taken. For the sake of brevity and to provide the most relevant information, the AIDA report only provides a snapshot of the entire information. It is only here that you will find the full Malta asylum statistics for 2022.

In the table you will find the full statistics presented by Country of Origin of applicants. You will find information on applications (new and subsequent), and decisions broken down by the kind of decision taken. 

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A new cooperation to strengthen our fight against illegal detention, because #ThereAreAlternatives

We are thrilled to announce a new cooperation that will strengthen our fight against illegal detention in Malta. Throughout 2023, we will be cooperating with the German NGO PRO ASYL in all our detention activities. This cooperation will boost our #ThereAreAlternatives campaign, pushing for Malta to bring its practices in line with fundamental human rights law.

In particular, PRO ASYL is providing us with financial support that will allow our lawyers to be more present in the detention centres to meet detained persons and see to their legal needs. This cooperation is also ensuring that our lawyers are able to visit our clients with much-needed interpreters, and to provide the people we meet with Fact Sheets about their legal situation.

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