Rule of Law

Demagogija fl-Ewwel ta’ Mejju

Smajt id-diskors kollu ta’ Muscat illum ghal dnubieti. L-isforz li ma jissemmiex l-iljunfant li hemm fil-kamra kien enormi… ggantesk… l-uniku haga kbira li kien hemm fil-pjazza fil-fatt. Id-demagogija tista’ tigi iddistillata f’zewg fazi: hawn hafna flus dehlin f’Malta (u le, ma humiex sforz ta’ gharaq xbin il-poplu imma sforz makakkeriji legali u/jew kwazi); ser inbexxu ftit minn dawk il-flus fil-housing (progett enormi socjali).

Bravu Joseph. Ghax bhall-flus tal-karita’ ghamel. Rabat il-flus li dahlu mill-hmieg u tahwid ma opra karitevoli sabiex hadd ma jmisshom. Le Joseph. Mhix ghira ghal min jaghmel tajjeb mal-fqar imma rabja ghal min jitnejjek bihom f’wicchom.

Il-konkluzjoni ukoll kienet helwa. Fakkar fix-xilja tal-Egrant. M’humiex dawk biss il-fatti le Joseph? Hemm zewg priecem imdawrin mieghek illi minkejja li ilek b’bizzejjed informazzjoni biex twarrabhom ghogbok tinheba wara l-mewga hamra li tadura id-demagogiji.

U l-investiment fi sptarijiet semmejtilna? Vera? Fejn zarmajt servizz socjali f’idejn skarpan li spicca kellu jbieghhom ghax ma kienx kapaci? Jew investiment fl-iskejjel? Liema? L-American University tal-Babaw? Infrastruttura biex il-haddiem imur ghax-xoghol komdu qalilna. Dazgur petrol station kull erba metri.

Temmejtu bl-innu malti, talba lil Alla. Nahseb ahjar tirringrazzjah li l-oppozizzjoni zoppa u imnejka (ghajr ftit individwi li ilhom ihabirku minn hafna qabel) tippermettik tigri girja bil-poplu.

Il-bejgh tac-cittadinanza hija ILLEGALI. It-tixhim minn fuq dan il-bejgh huwa carissimu. Bhal ma hu car it-tixhim minn fuq il-“progetti” enormi li shabek jidher car li gawdew minn fuqhom. X’ma jinfethux kontijiet?

“rodd il-hniena lis-sid, is-sahha lil haddiem,
imma fuq kollox O Mulej thallix lil min jibqa jbella’ ross bil-labra”

#amen #ruleoflaw

BONĠU MALTA – MEMORIAL CLEARED (AGAIN)

The situation is not desperate. Thousands flock to Spinola Bay to drink and revel. The memorial has been cleared (again) because someone somewhere has decided that we have a collective need to forget and it is his duty to help us do so. Political appointees and apparatchiks everywhere will once again deem it necessary to denigrate the acts of remembrance and will drum the following mantra into your head – this is the time to make hay, the sun is shining. All the while the law is made an ass and the safeguards of real freedom are broken down.

Remember, remember the 16th of October,
A car bomb, impunity and plot
We see no reason,
Why systemic treason,
Should ever be forgot.

#justice #daphnecrauanagalizia #impunity

 

On Memorials

What was cleared last night was not Daphne’s memorial. What was cleared was the reminder that justice is failing, it was the reminder of a rebellion against impunity, a reminder that not all of society is prepared to keep their eyes, ears and mouths shut.

There will eventually be a time and place to discuss an eventual memorial to Daphne but this is not that time.

This is the time to return the candles, the messages and the photos that spell out clearly that the present political system operating in an ever dwindling space of rule of law will just not do.

There are crooks everywhere.

Slapp that Bitch Up

Christmas Eve 2017. As North Korea and the United States of America both threaten to take action against countries voting against them in the United Nations, Henley and Partners decide to do a bit of bullying of their own and attempt to silence the Shiftnews portal. Writing in the Shift today, the editorial team explains how letters threatening legal action were received by H&P in an attempt to silence them.

The peddlers of passports have taken offence at an article published in the Shift that reported what was already international news – “Henley and Partners involved in Grenada diplomatic passports scandal”. The article in fact quotes a number of other international sources that were already running the same story (see for example Caribbean News Now!). That is not the main point really.

The point is that Henley and Partners are not new to this business of using financial duress as a baton to beat critics of their operations into submission. Daphne Caruana Galizia had herself reported receiving a series of harassing and threatening letters from the legal representatives of Henley and Partners. Most of the local mainstream press has now openly admitted to succumbing to similar legal threats and to being obliged to remove articles covering the Pilatus bank scandal.

The SLAPP  – strategic lawsuit against public participation – menace is a reality. Here is wikipedia’s definition:

“A strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP) is a lawsuit that is intended to censor, intimidate, and silence critics by burdening them with the cost of a legal defense until they abandon their criticism or opposition. Such lawsuits have been made illegal in many jurisdictions on the grounds that they impede freedom of speech.”

SLAPPs are yet another weapon in this era of post-truth that is available to those who would be more comfortable with the existence of multiple “alternate truths” from which to choose. A SLAPP lawsuit helps create a world where one particular version of the truth vanishes from circulation – not because it was untrue but because it became too expensive to assert.

One way to fight this assault on freedom of expression is to make it impossible for the SLAPP lawsuit to become effective. Each and every one of us can be part of this. Pick up the news that they want to suppress. Circulate it. Retweet it. Instagram it. Blog it. Facebook it. SLAPP that bitch up.

I stand with the ShiftNews Team and I am reproducing all the necessary links in this post. Better still I am attaching a PDF of the text of the post that Henley and Partners want to vanish… .download it and circulate it.

The ShiftNews on H&P (click to download PDF)

and a Merry Effing Christmas to you all at Henley!

[UPDATE] – You can now help TheShiftNews by donating directly on this link here.

Praworządność : the EU and the Rule of Law

In a historic move today, the European Commission has initiated a procedure against Poland based on the clear risk of a serious breach of the rule of law. From the official press release:

Despite repeated efforts, for almost two years, to engage the Polish authorities in a constructive dialogue in the context of the Rule of Law Framework, the Commission has today concluded that there is a clear risk of a serious breach of the rule of law in Poland.

The Commission is therefore proposing to the Council to adopt a decision under Article 7(1) of the Treaty on European Union (see Annex II).

The European Commission is taking action to protect the rule of law in Europe. Judicial reforms in Poland mean that the country’s judiciary is now under the political control of the ruling majority. In the absence of judicial independence, serious questions are raised about the effective application of EU law, from the protection of investments to the mutual recognition of decisions in areas as diverse as child custody disputes or the execution of European Arrest Warrants.

This is not something that can or should be taken lightly. In a local (Maltese) context, this should put paid to the myth that the eyes of the EU institutions are only focused on Malta (vide Pana Committee and recent Rule of Law task force) and that they are focused on Malta because of the work of some “traitors”. It should also put paid to the yarn being spun in some quarters that the rule of law is some “cliche'” that only serves the ulterior hidden purposes of power-hungry groups eager to overturn the current status.

Interestingly the Commission focuses on the judicial reforms in Poland that have severely prejudiced the independence  of the judiciary – the main default in the state of the rule of law in Poland is seen to be the judicial branch. The deficiencies are in the powers of appointment and removal that have been arrogated to the executive in recent legislative changes.

Why should Malta care?

Malta’s current system of appointment, removal and scrutiny of the judiciary is already flawed as it is. All the talk about reform, even in the judicial sector, remains just that – talk. Over the years the loopholes in the system that stem from the excessive discretion of an all-powerful judiciary have only been worsened. Our Prime Minister may “take note” in some cases (in answer to the Chief Justice for example) or “be perplexed” in others (as when he feigns ignorance of the consequences of the Ombudsman’s warnings regarding the internal kangaroo courts being set up within the public service). There is only so long that these lies can hold though.

Alarm bells will continue to be rung – if not by a spineless opposition that seems to be ever more hell bent on joining the populist battle, at least by a wider civil society made up of varied exponents and NGOs that feel it is their duty to act as Malta’s last conscience. Poland had long been playing with fire and is now in direct line for losing certain rights under the EU system. Malta could very well be next.

In the eighties Malta looked closely and learnt lessons from the happenings in Warsaw and Gdansk. The solidarność (solidarity) movement was adopted as a precursor for the calls of Work, Justice and Liberty that brought about change from a tired system. This time round we might do well to take heed and see how Poland solves its problems with praworządność  (rule of law).

Now. Before it is too late.