Tag: reform
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Prime Minister Abela says government will go ahead with planning laws despite admitting that the property industry is not a major economic sector
In an interview given yesterday to journalist Yannick Pace, Prime Minister Robert Abela said that the government will go ahead with its planning reforms which were described by NGOs as the most corrupt planning reform in history. In the same interview, when answering questions about the housing affordability crisis, the Prime Minister also said that…
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Military critics of the planned reform of the Armed Forces of Malta say it will promote Labour loyalists and increase government influence
Military officers have criticised the ongoing plans by the government to reform the structure of the Armed Forces as an opportunity to reward its loyalists and exert further influence in the AFM for promotions and cronyism. The intended reform will create three new high-ranking officers with potentially the title of “general” with critics saying that…
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Armed Forces of Malta to undergo extensive reform
The Armed Forces of Malta is planning an extensive reform in its organisation and structure to bring the AFM more up to date with current European and NATO standards. The reform will include regrouping of soldiers into different units and a reform in the rank-structure with new ranks added. The Armed Forces of Malta is…
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Giving leeway to scoundrels
Attorney General Victoria Buttigieg has yet to pronounce herself against the government’s proposed reforms to restrict her office’s powers to seize and freeze assets of suspected money launderers. The advice of the Attorney General is crucial in the legislation of criminal matters especially when it comes to very technical laws such as those related to…
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Here is the shameful law that will protect money-launderers
The law is only in Maltese at this stage and hasn’t been translated yet. The core reform of Labour’s proposed money-laundering bill can be read in Article 18 and its succeeding one. You can download it here. As you can read, the law changes the burden of proof from the suspect to the prosecutor. It…
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PN is still discussing its position over the Labour’s asset freeze reform
PN’s parliamentary group is divided over Labour’s proposed asset freeze reform, and the party is still formulating its official position as it addresses the internal disagreements between its MPs. This may very well be one of the moments where criminal lawyers in PN may be compromising the party’s values for their business interests. PN should…
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Mark-Anthony Sammut proposes the decriminalisation of insult
Incredible how things change and the tables turn. Opposition MP, Mark Anthony Sammut, yesterday, made a speech in parliament in favour of free speech and proposed the removal of the act of insult from the criminal code and the Electronic Communications Act. He is saying what the Labour Party should say and do. The Labour…
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Free speech should not be limited to artistic expression
The rushed reforms being tabled in parliament by the government in reaction to recent criminal reports on artists filed by Gordon Manche are being worded very specifically. The Labour government is making it very clear that its intention is to preserve “artistic freedom of expression”, and by default, this excludes criminal libel. Owen Bonnici’s comments…
