The constitutional court of Malta : a critical analysis

Abstract

This work aims to provide a thorough analysis of the Maltese Constitutional Court established by article 95 of the Constitution of Malta both in a theoretical and critical manner. With respect to the theoretical part of this work, a brief relationship will be drawn between historical political facts and their effects on the court itself in a chapter regarding the history and composition of the court. Another chapter will exhaustively delve into the jurisdiction of the Constitutional Court. The critical part of this work will be about the controversies that the Constitutional Court has drawn itself into by means of questionable judgements. These controversies relate to the supremacy of the Constitution in Malta and notions of a civil law nature, mainly to the issue of juridical interest, which have been applied also in the realm of constitutional proceedings. A substantial part of this work will examine cases decided by the Constitutional Court in relation to alleged human rights violations. This section will analyse all the rights found in Chapter IV of the Constitution. The aim of this part of the work will be that of exposing whether the decisions of the Constitutional Court in this regard were loyal to the provisions of the Constitution and correct with respect to their reasoning. As far as the legal contribution of this work is concerned, the aim is therefore that of presenting a critique of the decisions of the Constitutional Court over the years and discussing what can be done to improve the Constitutional Court’s role within the Maltese legal system and truly be the guardian of the Constitution.