Border Criminologies, managed by the Faculty of Law at the University of Oxford, published a guest post by Carla Camilleri, lawyer and the Assistant Director of aditus foundation.
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SMART Goals To Strengthen Access to Justice for Improved Human Rights Protection
The Strengthening Access to Justice for Improved Human Rights Protection project aims to improve access to Justice where fundamental human rights issues arise, with a particular emphasis on vulnerable or marginalised groups. However how does one turn seemingly intangible aims into practical goals that can be achieved? What is it really that we want to achieve? How is the rule of law linked to the enjoyment of rights for individuals?
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Two Steps foward, One Step Back
The European Commission 2021 Rule of Law Report Country Chapter on the Rule of Law Situation in Malta
According to the 2021 Rule of Law Report Country Chapter on the Rule of Law Situation in Malta, Malta has made significant progress within the domestic justice system particularly with regard to the reform of judicial appointments and judicial discipline, and also the appointment of the Chief Justice, in fact the level or perceived independence has increased and this in view of enhancing judicial independence and subsequently facilitating access to justice. The main legislative changes that addressed these issues were highlighted in another post Venice Commission: regrets that 6 Bills adopted before opinion could be finalised, before it could engage with the national stakeholders.
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Venice Commission: regrets that 6 Bills adopted before opinion could be finalised, before it could engage with the national stakeholders.
In this post we examine the Venice Commission’s Opinion CDL-AD(2020)019 on the 6 Acts adopted by the Government on the 29 July 2020. In a previous post, we examined the process undertaken by the Government whilst seeking to implement the legislative changes proposed in Opinion CDL-AD(2020)006.
It is important to note that the Acts were adopted prior to receiving the opinion of the Venice Commission which was requested by the Government itself. On 23 June 2020, the Minister for Justice transmitted 10 bills to the Venice Commission and requested an urgent opinion of the Venice Commission by no later than the end of June 2020. The Commission replied by stating that it would not prepare an opinion by way of urgency but that it would be finalised at the beginning of October 2020. On 1 July 2020 the bills were presented to Parliament for a first reading, however they were not yet in the public domain. On the 29 July 2020, the Maltese Parliament unanimously adopted 6 of the 10 bills and notified the Venice Commission of this on the 4 August 2020.
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Giving a voice to sex workers in Malta
Sex workers … are the experts on the industry, despite the clamorous voices of those who wish to speak for us, and who dismiss the accounts from sex workers that do not fit with their ideological positions. Those who ignore our voices and dismiss the
Sex Work and Human Rights, The International Union of Sex Workers, March 2014
complexity of our experiences are part of creating the very problems they say they wish to solve.
With these words in mind, and conscious of the fact that the voices of sex workers in Malta has been largely absent from the recent reform discussion, we wish to give a much needed voice to the community that is often shrouded in fear and marginalisation.
Through the Out of the Shadows project, sex workers will be able to have an active role in informing policy makers and society in general of their experiences, needs and recommendations on issues surrounding sex work in Malta. The process will be led by Marija Grech, an independent researcher, who will create a safe space for individuals to talk and share in an intimate, respectful and inclusive atmosphere.
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