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Article 39 (1) of the Maltese Constitution guarantees the individual’s right, whenever charged with a criminal offence, to a fair hearing only before an independent and impartial court and no other administrative set-up. This safeguard is superior, and alloFair hearings and consumer rights - Antoine Grima
Article 39 (1) of the Maltese Constitution guarantees the individual’s right, whenever charged with a criminal offence, to a fair hearing only before an independent and impartial court and no other administrative set-up. This safeguard is superior, and allowed to be so. Crucial parts of the Competition Act, introduced in 2011, have been declared to be inconsistent with Article 39 (1). This debilitated the Competition Office. Two approaches are suggested to resolve this. One proposes amending Article 39 (1). No precise details have been published except that the Article 6 (1) model of the European Convention may be used as an “inspiration”. This means that instead of amending the ordinary law, which was declared to be inconsistent with the human rights provisions of the Constitution, the Constitution is amended to accommodate the ordinary law. It is argued that this route would safeguard the position of other public authorities, which as things stand, might be equally challenged before the court and end up powerless like the Competition Office. This point was raised before the Civil Court (constitutional jurisdiction) in the estate agents case. The court defended the... Read more