Government, political parties meet Venice Commission

The government and the Nationalist Party have met the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission to give their views on Malta’s legal and institutional structures.

The government said on Monday that it had had a “positive” meeting with the Venice Commission earlier in the day.

The Venice Commission is an advisory body of the Council of Europe composed of independent experts in the field of constitutional law.

The delegation is looking into Malta’s legal and institutional structures, and the request reportedly came after concerns were raised during a recent visit by MEPs.

In a statement, the government said that Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne and Justice and Culture Minister Owen Bonnici had met the commission, whose ultimate aim is to give advice on constitutional and legal issues that are related, among other things, to the rule of law.

Deputy Prime Minister Fearne said the meeting had been a positive one, during which the commission had “acknowledged the considerable improvement made in Malta with regard to justice reform, including the introduction of a new system to appoint members of the judiciary.”

On his part, Minister Bonnici said the government could speak about constitutional reform because it had actually brought about such a reform. He spoke about other recent changes to the law, including the removal of time barring on political corruption cases, and the party financing law. He said the government would keep working on other reforms.

The Venice Commission, at the request of the Maltese government, will be drawing up a report analysing the country’s institutions and other processes, the government statement said.

The Opposition made clear its goal to “strengthen democratic institutions.”

“We are sad to see that they are not functioning in the way we would like them to.”

Representing the Opposition were spokesperson for foerign affairs and trade promotion Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici, spokesperson for Gozo and constitutional reform Chris Said, and spokesperson for European affairs and Brexit David Stellini.

The Labour Party also held a separate meeting with the commission.