Opposition leader Simon Busuttil yesterday warned that the Opposition was prepared to go all the way to the European Court of Justice over the legal notice that provides for the transfer of information belonging to persons in educational institutions.
Dr Busuttil said the Opposition would raise a complaint with the soon-to-be-appointed Data Protection Commissioner on Legal Notice 74 of 2014.
If the Commissioner did not heed its request to repeal the legal notice, it was prepared to seek redress by going to the Data Protection Tribunal, then the Court of Appeal and even to the European Court.
The Opposition motion for repeal was defeated by 37 votes against and 30 in favour, after a division.
This legal notice breached children’s fundamental rights and made the State a ‘big brother’ who could spy on our children
Winding up the debate, Dr Busuttil said the legal notice gave disproportionate powers to the government in terms of access to information on children. It breached the right to privacy, which the PN considered fundamental, even though the government insisted it was needed to aid research to help youths find employment.
If this was the case, there was no need for the wide-ranging powers the Education Minister was giving himself.
Even entities representing schools and parents had expressed their concern, Dr Busuttil said, adding that although the minister had said both sides could meet to iron out any concerns, they had not heard from him again. The law was introduced in a hush-hush manner as a legal notice and it was up to the PN to speak up.
Dr Busuttil said the minister was giving himself a blank cheque when it came to rights, and he was indeed the “data controller” despite claims to the contrary.
The question arose of who would be responsible for this information. Clearly, according to the PL, this should be the minister. The PN did not agree, even if the minister had assured them he had no bad intentions.
The PN was saying the minister should not have more power than needed to carry out his work. This legal notice breached children’s fundamental rights and made the state a ‘big brother’ who could spy on children.
Dr Busuttil urged the government to appoint the Data Protection Commissioner, a post which had been vacant since February 23, so it could approach him with its complaint, following which it would approach the tribunal and then the Appeals Court. If needed the PN was ready to go to the European Court, he said.
It was ironic that on the same night Parliament was debating such a liberal law as civil unions, it was also debating this legal notice risking children’s privacy. This was why the PN would be voting against this legal notice and keep fighting for the right to privacy, he said.
Earlier, Opposition deputy leader Mario de Marco said one did not judge solely on the basis of intentions but the means to achieve that end. The Opposition felt that this method of scrutiny undermined every person’s right to privacy and dignity.
Anthony Agius Decelis (PL) said planning and provision of programmes could only be achieved with the availability of proper data.
Claudette Buttigieg (PN) insisted that students’ data should be collected with the parents’ consent in terms of the Data Protection Directive of the European Union, which this legal notice breached. Social Policy Minister Michael Farrugia insisted the data was needed to focus assistance where it was needed.
Paula Mifsud Bonnici (PN) said she was concerned about the government’s real intentions. The government either did not know what it was doing, or it was trying to deceive people.
Minister Helena Dalli stressed that this legal notice observed the law and had been approved by the commissioner.