Malta’s Freedom Of Information Law To Be Challenged In Constitutional Court By Daphne Foundation And Public Interest Litigation Network
A team of lawyers from the Public Interest Litigation Network (PILN)and the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation are challenging Malta’s Freedom of Information Act (FOI) in the Constitutional Court.
Malta’s FOI Act is to be challenged in the Constitutional Court by lawyers from PILN and the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation, who are arguing that the remedies it provides are unconstitutional because they do not respect the right to freedom of expression and information protected by Article 41.
The case, which was filed last week, is the first of its kind, as there has never been a case which has challenged the FOI Act and the misuse of FOI procedures to block or limit access to the information within a reasonable time.
The aim of the case is to limit state authorities’ arbitrary refusals to provide information in the public interest and to reverse the culture of secrecy behind their claims of privacy and commercial sensitivity, enabling public interest journalism to hold power to account.
The case is based on FOI requests for a secret agreement, signed by Konrad Mizzi on behalf of the Maltese Government and by SOCAR Trading SA and for a report on the feasibility of a second interconnector to Malta. The Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation said that the Ministry for Energy has refused both requests “on questionable grounds”.
PILN and the Foundation have four requests for the court. The first is to declare the energy minister’s refusal to provide access to the requested information violates the Constitutional right to free expression and information.
Secondly, they would like the court to rule that the FOI Act’s remedies for rejected requests infringe an applicant’s fundamental rights. They would also like the court to declare specific parts of the FOI Act null and void as they are in conflict with the constitutional right to free expression and information.
Lastly, they would like the court to take appropriate steps to offer redress to the applicant.
FOI requests in Malta often are rejected, ignored, and on the rare occasion they are answered, the information given is not sufficient.
Lovin Malta’s FOI request for a breakdown of costs of the massively over-budget Malta Film Awards continues to be rejected and ignored by the Freedom of Information department at the Malta Film Commission.
PILN members Dr Alain Muscat, Dr Jospeh Mizzi and Dr Claire Bonello filed the Constitutional case on behalf of the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation and its director, Matthew Caruana Galizia, the son of the assassinated journalist after which the Foundation is named.
PILN is a network of lawyers focused on cases of human rights violations and other matters of public interest, exploring national, supranational, and international legal mechanisms to ensure State and individual accountability, address abuses of power, and engage civil society and the legal community to advance social change.
The PILN was launched by the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation in September 2021, but functions autonomously. It is currently funded by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA Grants Active Citizens Fund, which is operated in Malta by the NGO, SOS Malta.
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