An analytical comparative study of the laws relating to agriculture in Malta, in relation to those prevailing in the European Union

Abstract

Since the earliest years of mankind agriculture has always been the most important industry in the world being the main and unique source of the food man eats. Besides providing food, agriculture caters for two other human basic needs, that is clothing and shelter. Agriculture is also one of the oldest industries having its birth in the Middle East around ten thousand years ago when man learnt how to grow plants from seeds and how to raise animals in captivity. Before this time the main food sources were wild plants, hunting, and fishing, meaning that man had to search for food continually leaving no time for other activities. However with the development of agriculture, fewer people were needed to produce food, leaving non-farmers time to spend in the development of trades, crafts, arts and other civilised activities. Thus one may say that agriculture not only affected the food supply but also made civilisation possible. After the passing of this phase agriculture became more and more sophisticated giving rise for the necessity for it to be legally regulated. In this introductory chapter I propose to deal with the traditional legal Civil institutes relating to Agriculture which more or less were institutes dealing with land tenure and ownership(with a special reference to Maltese regulations). In Chapter two I will have a closer look at the history of both the Civil and Administrative regulations in Malta.