Police circulars show there is legal clarity on the wearing of the burqa or niqab in public places, contradicting statements by Equality Minister Helena Dalli.

Police circular GHQ 13/13, dated February 6, 2013, gave the Attorney General’s “clear” opinion on the matter.

The circular, seen by the Times of Malta, stressed that “there is no provision in Maltese law that prohibits the wearing of the burqa”.

Yet another police circular, GHQ 51/2014, dated September 1, 2014, confirmed what had been said in the 2013 communication on the matter.

Minister Dalli has repeatedly said that the former Nationalist administration “issued a directive to the police not to enforce an existing law”.

Last week Justice Minister Owen Bonnici postponed a reply to a parliamentary question by Clyde Puli asking whether wearing a burqa in public was illegal according to Maltese law.

On Sunday, addressing a political activity at the Birżebbuġa Labour Party club, Ms Dalli remarked that the right to dress as one pleased “stops when it impinges on another person’s right to enjoy security”.

She added that the Prime Minister had instructed her and the justice minister to “look into best practices and propose a coherent policy”.

She told the Times of Malta she was aiming to “achieve legal certainty” through the “necessary legal amendment”.

Read more in the Times of Malta.

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