Maltese Hunters Will Keep Their Licenses After Police Dismiss Birdlife’s Complaint
Hunters won’t have their spring hunting licenses rescinded after police dismissed warnings by Birdlife Malta that they were issued illegally.
Birdlife yesterday filed a police complaint calling for all hunting licenses to be revoked with immediate effect on the grounds that they were issued by the Gozo Ministry and not the Environment Ministry even though EU legislation requires wildlife and conservation issues to be overseen by environment ministries.
However, the police have said there exists no grounds upon which to proceed further.
“After analysing the content of this complaint in detail and after taking all the circumstances into account, the police have reached the conclusion that there’s grounds upon which to take ulterior action.”
Birdlife Malta then published the full response it received from Acting Police Commissioner Carmelo Magri
Magri argued that the police cannot act as though everyone who made use of their hunting license committed a crime on the grounds of BirdLife’s argument that the issuing of the licenses itself was illegal.
He suggested Birdlife seek potential redress in court, noting that the police cannot usurp the powers, duties and functions vested in other institutions.
Just over 6,000 hunting licenses were issued this season, fewer than usual because elderly hunters and other hunters classified as vulnerable haven’t been given a license because they are at greater risk of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cover photo: FACE
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