As part of a drive to reform laws which restrict freedom of speech, a public consultation meeting with Culture Minister Mario de Marco and his team of experts was held. The meeting was very positive.
Dr de Marco made it clear that he is willing to reform the laws for the benefit of artists and freedom of speech and his attitude was quite convincing. His team presented a set of reforms which are still being discussed and will be finalised later on this year.
The reforms do not provide an overhaul of the current laws, but merely attempt to modify them and add new procedures and guidelines which will give more space for the artist.
I suspect that this way of seeing things derives from former judge Giovanni Bonnello’s idea that currently the courts have ruled consistently in favour of freedom of speech. Adding to this, one can end up doubting whether there is actually any need for reform due to the fact that Alex Vella Gera (the author) and myself (as editor) were not found guilty of breaking obscenity laws with regard to the short story, Li Tkisser Sewwi.
We have to be careful not to oversimplify matters. The issue of reform is not restricted simply to issues of interpretation and police over-zealousness. The fact the production and propagation of ‘obscenity’ and ‘pornography’ can be prosecuted, opens ground for prosecution.
Dr de Marco’s team is convinced that the prosecution of artists will be less likely if a filtering system such as the Miller test is applied a priori to police intervention and prosecution. Such a test, if written with rational and detailed guidelines, will undoubtedly lessen the risk of artists being prosecuted and thus this would be a step forward.
Another positive proposal was to transfer libel laws from the criminal code to the civil code. If Dr de Marco is open to such reforms, then, this is a turning point which will lead us to an improvement in the status quo.
Having said this, this is not a great leap forward. The political discourse should be more critical towards the current established laws. Currently laws relating to freedom of speech are restrictive and authoritarian in nature. The fact a DJ was convicted and penalised with a suspended prison sentence for vilifying the Catholic religion is enough to spark a vociferous and radical critique of the current laws.
We should move onto a more modern model such as that of Britain which allows a large degree of artistic freedom but outlaws particular perversities through the extreme pornography laws.
I am confident that even if the proposed reforms will not be an overhaul, they will provide a progressive step forward, improve the system and provide a point of departure we can turn to a completely different model with ease.