Update 2: PL announces nominees for obscenities committee
Justice Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici said today that the governemnt was still waiting for the Opposition to nominate members to a committee which will draw up regulations to define pornography and obscenity in terms of the law.
The Labour Party announced its nominees shortly after the minister's statement.
In his statement, the minister explained that in terms of the law, the committee was to be presided by the Minister of Justice and composed of two government MPs and two MPs from the Opposition.
Last January the government nominated Beppe Fenech Adami and Francis Zammit Dimech as members and Charlo' Bonnici and Edwin Vassallo as substitute members.
The committee would start meeting once the Opposition makes its nominations, Dr Mifsud Bonnici said.
Last January, Labour MP Owen Bonnici had criticised the government for not activating the committee.
He pointed out that the only time that regulations defining obscenities had been published in Malta was on July 15, 1975. Since then, there had been a whole series of judgments by the European Court of Human Rights defining what constituted pornography, even within the context of freedom of expression and artistic freedom.
PL NAMES ITS NOMINEES
The Labour Party said it had not been consulted by the government on the setting up of the committee.
It said its members on the committee would be Evarist Bartolo and Owen Bonnici.
The substitute members would be Helena Dalli and Lucioano Busuttil.
The PL said that on January 21 the government accepted the opposition's call to form the committee. According to the law, the Prime Minister was to have consulted the Leader of the Opposition on the appointment of the committee, but this consultation never took place.
The PL said it hoped the government would not further delay the work of this committee.
GOVERNEMNT REACTION
The government said the Opposition had admitted that it announced its nominees three months after being invited to do so.
It pointed out that the government and the opposition had already agreed on the committee.
The opposition’s claim that it had not been consulted was simply an excuse by the opposition to hide its own failure.
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D Farrugia
Apr 26th 2010, 22:46
Our Ministers and MPs have noting better to do then debate porn?
Hook up the laptop with the TV, switch on the internet and you can stream or download and enjoy whatever soft, straight or depraved fetish your mind desires.
What a waste of time and money. You better discuss boiler number 7 dear MInisters or how a single traffic accident can bring a whole country to a standstill instead if Maltese people love missionary acts or doggy styles best!
Paul Stivala
Apr 26th 2010, 21:01
I've taken a look at article 208 of the Criminal Code: It states that the committee shall consist of the Minister ... and four members of the House of Representatives appointed by the Prime Minister after he has CONSULTED the Leader of the Opposition. Apparently the PM just wrote a letter to the Minister, ignoring the Opposition Leader completely ... Truly a Prime Minister who really does not know what consultation means
J Spiteri
Apr 26th 2010, 22:06
You hit the nail on its head, Mr Stivala!!!!!
Alfred Bugeja
Apr 27th 2010, 07:00
In its statement on 20th January, the Government had said that it would be appointing two members to the committee and invited the leader of the Opposition to do the same. What further consultation was Joseph Muscat expecting? Consultation on how to sit on a chair, switch on his computer and type a letter to the Prime Minister?
Paul Barrett
Apr 26th 2010, 20:49
What an opportunity to turn back the clock. Just think of the extra jobs that could be made with all those people that could spend their day blacking out newspaper pictures, deleting passages in books and mags or banning many of them totally.
Some may laugh but it was not all that long ago that this was happening here.
With the recent comments regarding a certain bit of art at a round-a-bout, (the picture of which would have been blotted out) it would appear that quite a few have not actually moved on very much since the 1960's/1970's - oppressive censorship.
This (hopefully secular) committee has a very important role to play in drawing the line, maintaining a reasonable moral standard but without throwing the Island too far out of step with the rest of Western world which I fear it may be tempted to do purely not to be accused of being to "open minded".
Whichever way it goes, it will create a heap of criticism LOL.
Sylvana Zarb Darmanin
Apr 26th 2010, 20:17
J Borg, very impressing indeed!! "Allow filming of pornography in Malta and open a new business category and more money in Malta that way." Should this be filmed in the countryside, maybe?
D.Pace
Apr 26th 2010, 19:01
@ J Borg I'm impressed by your definition of maturity. NOT! How can your brain classify seeing porn with a mature person??
Kevin Cassar
Apr 26th 2010, 19:15
Please can everyone grow up and learn to think. Pornography and obscenity is like all other things in this world SUBJECTIVE! Those of us who use their brains, know that what we think we see with our eyes, we see with our brain, which adds information to what is actually perceived. Therefore if my brain sees for example a nude and my brain processes the information as art, that is the reality for me. For others the same information could be interpreted as porn and that is the reality for them. Everyone is correct and nobody is wrong. The intelligent thing to do would be to warn the individual about the chances of being offended and let adults choose. Of course many will say I'm wrong and attack me. To these I have only one suggestion - PLEASE READ MY COMMENT AGAIN until you understand it.
A Zammit
Apr 26th 2010, 17:46
Daqs kemm kien ftahar li se jghaddi vot mill-Parlament l-Onor Owen Bonnici tal-Lejber! Ghad ma kellhomx cans jinnominaw lil xi hadd minn Jannar? Ghall-pantomini l-ewwel jiehdu! Ghall-fatti - 0
j camilleri
Apr 26th 2010, 20:19
Fil-bibbja hemm xi haga miktuba li tghid hawn min jara t tibna f'ghajn haddiehor u ma jarax it travu f ghajnejh siehbi..... Ghax jekk nitkellmu dwar il-fatti ma nafx kemm insib weghdiet li ma twettqux taht il-Gvern tieghek
J.Borg
Apr 26th 2010, 17:41
Allow filming of pornography in Malta and open a new business category and more money in Malta that way. Please all you die hard catholics stay out of this and let people of 18 have a right to do and watch what they want except for child pornography and other illegal categories of porn. Lets finally mature a bit in this country and follow the road of all big countries in the world.
Joe Borg
Apr 26th 2010, 17:39
Nationalist Party should be defined as OBSCENE. There is no need to give a full list of these obscenities that PN did. The most recent of these obscenities include the electricity bills (inspite of protests by people) and Power Station Contracts. Forgetting that they only have one member of parliament more when compared to PL. Obscenities then come out when certain minority of people are being "advantaged" over the rest of society. One day, your turn will be over dear PN! Until that day...
J.Tonna
Apr 26th 2010, 17:32
Anything done by the present government is OBSCENE.
Raymond Camilleri and Edwin de Marco, do you agree????
Raymond Camilleri
Apr 26th 2010, 16:39
The Delimara Power Sation Contract: OBSCENE.
Joe Zammit
Apr 26th 2010, 16:36
Art should never be considered as pornography but, of course, the work has to be a work of art indeed.
Pornography (or porn) is the portrayal of explicit sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual excitement and erotic satisfaction.
Child pornography in particular harms the minds and hearts of our children.
EDWIN DE MARCO
Apr 26th 2010, 16:28
How do you define the modern umbrella monstrosity covering Hagar Qim & Mnajdra temples? OBSCENITY!
M.Gauci
Apr 26th 2010, 17:02
Safeguarding our past for the future generations. Obscenity would have been leaving them melt away as was happening at an alarming rate this past 100 years. This was scientifically proven and measures you call obscene, were thankfully taken to safeguard our heritage.
If doing that is obscene - your comments are a blaspheme