Malta [The protection of fundamental rights post-Lisbon]

Abstract

The main legal source of Maltese criminal law is in the Maltese Criminal Code which is found in Chapter 9 of the Laws of Malta. Malta is a mixed jurisdiction. Substantive Maltese criminal law is based on the continental legal systems and is closely related to Italian criminal law. Both sources are found in the Maltese Criminal Code. In the Maltese legal system, contrary to some other jurisdictions within the EU, court judgements, orders and decrees do not contain legal precedent and so the principles of criminal law are not created by case-law but by statute. The Criminal Code is complemented by a number of subsidiary legislation complementing the criminal code as well as other chapters of the laws of Malta such as Chapter 276 the Extradition Act and the subsidiary legislation that results from these special criminal laws. The most common method used to transpose the EU law in the criminal cooperation filed is through a Legal Notice under the European Union Act creating a subsidiary legislation or else by an Act of Parliament enacting a new chapter of Malta or amending the Criminal Code.