Maltese national security law : definition and human rights aspects

Abstract

Malta did not have a definition of 'national security' in its laws prior to 1996. This is quite strange bearing in mind the importance of this concept to the sovereignty of the state, especially when Maltese national security is at risk from internal or external aggression. It was only in 1996 that a definition was adopted and it now part and parcel of the Statute Book. In this short piece, a comparative analysis is carried out in order to determine how jurisdictions such as the United Kingdom and Australia have defined this key concept of Public Law, how the term has been the subject of interpretation by Human Rights Law especially in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, and, finally, whether the 1996 definition referred to above, when compared to those of other foreign jurisdictions referred to in this paper, is adequate and sufficient within a Maltese context.