A draft administrative code presented yesterday proposes condensing some 30 Maltese laws into a single legal code – the first time this process is being proposed in recent Maltese history.
Malta’s courts have lagged behind in the administrative field, but this draft code will hopefully set the ball rolling
Drafted by Parliament’s House Committee for the Consolidation of Laws, with the assistance of legal professor Kevin Aquilina, the code brings together existing laws while proposing reforms to others.
It is the first in an ambitious committee project seeking to simplify Malta’s 514 existing laws into a far more manageable 40, Prof. Aquilina said.
“The sheer number of existing laws makes it very difficult for the average citizen to find the legislation they’re looking for. This draft code is attempting to change that.”
Two years in the making, the draft code suggests replacing the existing civil court with an administrative court. This court would also replace several existing tribunals and provide citizens, for the first time ever, with a direct judicial means of recourse against government decisions.
Among the draft code’s other proposals are the establishment of a Law Commissioner responsible for compiling revised editions of Malta’s laws, including human rights violations within the Ombudsman’s remit and modifying the method by which EU laws are enforced domestically.
Presenting the code, committee chairman Franco Debono said the draft code sought to “harmonise legislation, remove contradictions, plug legislative gaps and propose reform where needed”.
He thanked the multiple experts who had approached the committee with suggestions and ideas, and hoped members of the public with a legal bent would take the time to browse through the draft text (which is available online at www.parlament.mt) and give the committee some feedback.
“This is the committee’s magnum opus,” committee member José Herrera said.
“Malta’s courts have lagged behind in the administrative field, but this draft code will hopefully set the ball rolling.”
Fellow committee member Francis Zammit Dimech likened the draft code to a social contract between the government and its citizens, setting out the legal responsibilities the state had towards its subjects and ensuring good governance.
Almost 500 pages in length, the draft code harkens back to a similar exercise carried out in the late 1800s by the then Attorney General Adrian Dingli.
Malta’s legal system blends continental civil law, which emphasises codification, with the Anglo-Saxon common law system, with its greater focus on judicial decision-making.
Although the system had its benefits, committee members said it occasionally fell flat.
“Laws are introduced through multiple sources: court judgements, parliamentary Bills or legal notices, for example. Over time, laws get spread so broadly that a consolidating exercise such as this becomes vital,” Dr Zammit Dimech said.
Should the draft code eventually make it into law, committee members argued it would simplify court procedures as well as make laws more accessible to the average citizen. “While compiling this code, we came across laws that had been passed by Parliament but never actually came into force. We’re now working on consolidating several other laws. But given the committee’s limited resources, getting that done will be a tall task,” Dr Debono said.