https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/1126 2026-06-03T20:16:28Z 2026-06-03T20:16:28Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/146794 2026-05-26T08:49:32Z 2026-05-01T00:00:00Z

Title: The Maltese language at risk Abstract: Professor Raymond Mangion’s monograph titled The Legislative and Constitutional Development of the Maltese language in a Historico- Literary Context published last year by Midsea Books is a first of its kind. I am not aware of any book that has ever been hitherto published which introspects the Maltese language from such diverse aspects as the legal, legislative, constitutional, historical, and literary perspectives. In this book, we encounter the chequered history of the Maltese language that has developed progressively, though painfully, over the centuries until it reached its fulfilment when Malta achieved its independence from the UK. The Maltese language has traversed multiple stages since its inceptions centuries ago, not only those of customary law and statutory law, but it was only as recent as 22 September 1964 that it anchored itself for the first time in Malta’s fundamental law – the Constitution of Malta.

2026-05-01T00:00:00Z Aquilina, Kevin https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/146612 2026-05-20T13:26:48Z 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Postcolonial law : autochthonous illusions, or rupturing the shackles of British acculturation? Authors: Aquilina, Kevin Abstract: This paper restricts its focus on Malta’s postcolonialism in relation to one sector of society – public law – and argues that since the inception of British colonialism in Malta in 1800, following Malta’s independence in 1964, and up to the present moment in time, British acculturation has taken its toll in this sector of Maltese society to such an extent that such sector in the republican state is very much of a mirror image of the colonial imprint. After defining key terms such as “colonialism”, “post-colonialism”, “postcolonialism” and “British acculturation” for the purposes of this paper, a distinction is drawn between British postcolonialism, on the one hand, and other forms of post-colonialism extant in Malta, on the other, leading to the finding that although Malta is both post-colonial and postcolonial in nature, it is the latter that has gained the upper hand both during Malta’s British colonial times and following Malta’s independence mainly because Britain was Malta’s last coloniser and applied a policy of acculturation in Malta at least in the sector of society surveyed that has, during the colonial and postcolonial periods ranging from 1800 to date, nearly eradicated from Malta the remnants of European continental public law. The work then identifies the advantages and disadvantages of postcolonialism in Malta, the rejection of recourse to the option of autochthony that was available to the Maltese nation post-independence but never availed of, and the meaning of, and ingredients for, autochthony should the Mediterranean state chose in the future to cross this bridge. It further attempts to understand why the Mediterranean state has, instead of pursuing the autochthony road, had recourse to a servile colonial mentality post-independence that did not detach it completely from the former coloniser’s pubic law.

2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/146524 2026-05-18T15:28:59Z 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: When crime pays Abstract: The Various Revenue Laws (Amendment) Act, 2025 – Act No XXX of 2025 – a recently enacted law, raises grave criminal justice sentencing policy issues. If A commits the crimes of, say, forgery of documents, money laundering, false declarations, (hereafter non-tax evasion crimes) together with tax evasion, if the tax, additional tax, interest thereon, and an additional fine are all paid to government, the latter turns a Nelson’s blind eye and absolves A from the criminal punishment of imprisonment and/or a criminal fine, as the case may be, for the non-tax evasion crimes even these are more serious than tax evasion.

2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/146145 2026-05-05T11:53:44Z 2026-05-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Diskors waqt it-tnedija tal-ktieb, The legislative and constitutional development of the Maltese language in a historico-literary context ta’ Prof. Raymond Mangion Abstract: Il-monografija tal-Professur Raymond Mangion bit-titlu Stħarriġ Leġiżlattiv u Kostituzzjonali tal-Ilsien Malti f’Kuntest Storiku-Letterarju hija l-ewwel waħda tat-tip tagħha peress li qatt ma kienet ippubblikata bħala ktieb li jixtarr l-ilsien Malti minn perspettiva leġiżlattiva, kostituzzjonali, storiko-legali, u fl-istess waqt letterarja. Dan il-ktieb jeżamina l-istorja tal-iżvilupp tal-Lingwa Maltija b’mod agonizzanti matul is-sekli sakemm, fl-aħħar, laħqet il-milja tagħha wara li għaddiet minn diversi stadji, mhux biss dawk tal-liġi konswetudinarja (il-liġi mhux 2 miktuba) u l-liġi statutorja (il-liġi miktuba jew, aħjar, dik leġiżlattiva), iżda wkoll kif ankrat fil-liġi fundamentali tagħna – il-Kostituzzjoni ta’ Malta. [silta] Description: Diskors moqri mill-Professur Kevin Aquilina nhar it-Tnejn, 4 ta’ Mejju, 2026 fis-Sala Pietru Pawl Saydon (ALT), fl-Università ta’ Malta, l-Imsida f’ċeremonja mtella’ mill-Akkademja tal-Malti waqt it-tnedija tal-ktieb: The Legislative and Constitutional Development of the Maltese Language in a Historico-Literary Context miktub mill-Professur Raymond Mangion

2026-05-01T00:00:00Z