venice commission Archives - aditus foundation

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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Our reaction to the Report of the Board of Inquiry – Daphne Caruana Galizia

^{_{“…l-Ministri kollha individwalment min b’mod u min b’ieħor, kienu qed jissottoskirvu u javallaw id-deċiżjoni tal-Prim Ministru li jħalli kollox għaddej…illi s-sens ta’ impunitá li kien qiegħed jinħoloq proprju fil-qalba tal-amministrazzjoni kellu l-approvazzjoni siekta, jekk mhux il-barka, tal-Kabinett kollu.”}}
^{_{“L-assassinju kien il-mezz krudili biex titkisser is-sistema li kienet qed tnawwar id-demokrazija fil-pajjiż.”}}
Report of the Board of Inquiry – Daphne Caruana Galizia, pg. 411, pg. 414

The Board of Inquiry’s report is an unequivocal condemnation of Malta’s democracy. It should shock the entire nation into realising that what we believed to be a functioning democracy serving the people is really a rotten apparatus set up by, and for self-serving tyrants. That Daphne Caruana Galizia’s brutal assassination was deemed necessary for Government and its business connections to continue their plundering underlines the extent of depravity ruling the country.

Today, Malta is in a terrible state. Yet we are seriously concerned that the prospects for the years to come are just as bleak, if not darker and more dangerous. The report is a stark indictment of the Maltese State turning on its own citizens, prejudicing a citizen’s right to work freely and safely, and culminating in prejudicing a citizen’s right to life.

Venice Commission: lack of public consultation akin to denying citizens their democratic entitlement.

Reform Process

Throughout this year we will be looking at Venice Commission Opinion CDL-AD(2020)019 adopted in October 2020 on the acts and bills that sought to implement the proposals for legislative changes which were the subject of Opinion CDL-AD(2020)006 adopted in June 2020. In this post we examine the Venice Commission’s reaction to the procedure used by the Government in adopting the first 6 Acts which are subject of the Opinion.

Backdrop: Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination

On the 8th October 2020 the Venice Commission adopted an Opinion on the ten acts and bills implementing the legislative proposals put forward by the Maltese government. This is the 4th Opinion adopted by the Commission on Malta since 2018. The process relating to the Malta’s constitutional amendments, separation of powers and independence of the judiciary kicked off in October 2018 by a request of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) to the Venice Commission.