Controversial amendments to the Maltese Criminal Code

Abstract

On writing this paper I was still debating (in the Committee for the Consideration of Bills in the Maltese Parliament) amendments to the Bill to amend the Criminal Code (Chapter 9 of the laws of Malta), in particular the revolutionary provisions that are going to cause procedural earthquakes in Criminal Proceedings. I may sound extreme - however, the debate in parliament about the various amendments drew concerns from both sides of the House. It is true that at present the Maltese Parliament has quite a handful of Criminal lawyers as members and this in itself is healthy when debating the Criminal Code, and this doesn't occur often in the Maltese Parliament. In fact, one may safely say that except for some cosmetic amendments in the last few years the Criminal Code has remained quite a conservative piece of legislation for a number of years, except for recent amendments