Court bans spring hunting for this year

The European Court of Justice has issued interim measures banning spring hunting in Malta this year.

Following weeks that have kept pro- and anti-hunting lobbies on tenterhooks, information started trickling in yesterday evening that the court had come to a decision.

BirdLife Malta issued a statement welcoming the outcome, as government officials both locally and in Brussels were still not in a position to confirm the news, apparently still uninformed by the court.

Later in the evening, the Attorney General - who has been defending the government's case with a team of lawyers that included a Belgian specialist in EU environmental legislation - received the 11-page sentence. An official statement by the government confirmed the ban.

The court had been deliberating on the interim measure since April 2, when the last submissions by lawyers for the government and the European Commission were made behind closed doors.

Since accession to the EU in 2004, the government has permitted hunting for turtle dove and quail in spring on the basis of a derogation from the Birds Directive which it claims Malta has the right to avail itself of, on the basis of the EU accession deal.

The Commission, however, has disputed the practice, arguing that the Maltese case would fall within the scope of the derogation allowing hunting in spring only if it is proven that no other satisfactory solution exists.

Pointing to autumn as such a compensatory season, the Commission initiated infringement proceedings but Malta dug its heels in. This meant the Commission has had to resort to the court, asking it to declare Malta to be in breach of the directive.

Hearings for a final decision on the future of spring hunting have not yet started and until then the court has issued what is known as interim measures. BirdLife applauded the decision yesterday, insisting that hunting during the sensitive breeding and spring migration period runs against the Birds Directive and is outlawed in all member states.

BirdLife President Joseph Mangion said: "The overwhelming majority of the Maltese are against spring hunting and they want to see the government protect our common European natural heritage.

"It is now time for law enforcement against illegal bird shooting and trapping to be stepped up so that this ban will be effective."

The Hunters' Federation, which was unaware of the decision, did not have a reaction to make to the sentence last night.

The group's PRO Joe Perici Calascione said when contacted: "All we know so far is what we've been seeing in the media. It's useless for us to make emotional comments even though this is obviously a devastating blow for us which, yet again, indicates the organised injustice being perpetrated in our regard... but I think it's better if we wait till we've read the sentence."

While accusing the EU of pandering to the anti-hunting lobby, the FKNK has been placing the responsibility for the whole spring hunting debacle on the government, underscoring a promise it had been given in writing prior to accession to the EU by then Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami, that spring hunting for turtle dove and quail would not be affected by membership.