Albert Pace.

One of the first tasks the consultant to the Animal Rights Parliamentary Secretary took on was to advise on the revision of a law under which he was convicted four years earlier. Albert Pace, a former Labour MP and a licensed trapper and hunter, advised Animal Rights Parliamentary Secretary Roderick Galdes on revisions to the conservation of wild birds regulations.

The changes include the decriminalisation of the use of electronic bird callers for hunting and trapping. Mr Pace was convicted for the illegal use of bird callers on November 11, 2009.

He was fined €250 and the illegal equipment used to lure birds was confiscated. The incident happened on November 30, 2008.

Mr Pace was appointed adviser to the Animal Rights Parliamentary Secretary soon after the Labour Party was voted into power, on a 30-hour week contract with a remuneration of €17,566 per year.

After the revised rules came into force last year, those caught using the illegal electronic callers useful in luring wild birds would no longer have to face court.

Before the law was revised, anyone caught using illegal electronic bird callers for the first time faced a fine of €233 up to €2,329.

For a second offence or more, those caught faced a fine of €466 up to €4,659 and/or imprisonment for up to two years. The equipment was confiscated and the culprit also faced a possible licence suspension up to three years.

Following the revision of regulations, the maximum fine would now be €250 and the confiscation of equipment. The penalty applies no matter how many times the same individual is caught using illegal bird callers. There is no risk the licence would be lost in cases of infringement.

Thanks to the revised regulations, the culprit will not face court and therefore has no record of his offence on his record.

The result is a proliferation of electronic bird callers in the countryside. Earlier this month, the Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) criticised the widespread use of “hundreds” of forbidden bird callers for the trapping of golden plovers.

“There are only a few places on Malta and Gozo where these devices cannot be heard night and day,” the organisation said. CABS confirmed it had received numerous phone calls from the public who felt disturbed by the callers.

When Times of Malta contacted Mr Pace and asked whether he influenced the revision of the law, he replied: “As an adviser I only give my opinion. What happens then is in the hands of the Wild Birds Regulation Unit (WBRU) and the minister”.

Until recently, Mr Pace’s desk at the ministry was in the same office as the WBRU although political appointees should not share the same office as public sector employees.

The WBRU is meant to act as a regulator on hunting laws but Birdlife has questioned its independence. It is staffed with hunting activists, including two brothers, Richard Lia and Joseph Lia, the latter a council member of the hunters’ federation.