Project Update Archives - Page 8 of 27

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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Just published: Comparative Report on the Status of Refugee-led Community Organisations

We are extremely happy to announce the publication of a report looking at trends in relation to refugee-led community organisations. The report is published within our Erasmus+ project ‘Training Kit for Empowering Refugee-Led Community Organisations’.

The main aim of this Comparative Report on the Status of Refugee-led Community Organisations (RCOs) is to provide a contribution to the project’s formulation of a training kit that supports the establishment and strengthening of such organisations.

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
complexity of our experiences are part of creating the very problems they say they wish to solve.
Sex Work and Human Rights, The International Union of Sex Workers, March 2014

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.

Paperless and Invisible: the importance of having residence papers

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Documentation & Rights

For most people, it is hard to understand the importance of having a residence card and the repercussions on daily life not having one can have. A residence card or permit contains vital information that is relied upon by authorities, healthcare providers and private persons, such as employers. It can also determine what rights that person is entitled to depending on the basis of his or her residence in Malta. These rights include the right to enter the labour market under certain conditions depending, again, on the type of residence card or permit to stay that a person holds.

Therefore, although it sounds obvious, the implications of either not holding a residence card or holding a residence card based on the incorrect law has far reaching effects for the individual. Without holding a residence card or permit an individual remains at the fringes of society, invisible and vulnerable to abuse and exploitation.

Blogpost: Prosecution and imprisonment of refugees entering Malta using false documents

As a Malta-based NGO aditus monitors, acts and reports on access to human rights in Malta. We provide information and assistance to persons seeking to secure enjoyment of their fundamental human rights, or attempting to obtain an effective remedy against violations. It is within this spirit, that we have and will continue to engage with stakeholders to ensure adherence to Malta’s international, regional and national obligations.

In recent news we have been seeing an increasing number of migrants who have been imprisoned for months after being found guilty or pleading guilty to entering or being present in Malta with false documentation. In the asylum field there is an understanding that refugees will frequently be unable to legally leave their countries, travel and enter a safe country and this blogpost attempts to expand on the legal and policy observations surrounding these issues.