Executive summary

• Author: Ellul, Tonio
• Pages: 5-12

5

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1. Introduction

As at December 2018, the population of Malta was estimated to be 493 559, of whom

251 836 were male and 241 723 were female.1 Of the total population, 84 247 were foreign

nationals. According to t he Labour Force Survey, the number of people employed at the

end of September 2019 was estimated a t 255 297, of whom 151 252 were male and

104 045 were female.2 An increase in th e number of foreign nationals living in Malta in

recent y ears has been accompanied by an increase in the number of incidents of racial

intolerance.

Various organisations in Malta, both governmental and non -governmental, actively seek to

combat discrimination on various grounds. In a ddition to the measures taken to implement

the directives, the Government continues to seek dialogue and consultation with people and

entities working to combat and prohibit discrimination.

It is i mportant to not e that, in December 2014, a consultation process was launched3

proposing the introduction of an equality act and legislation for a human rights and equality

commission. An equality act has been proposed to supersede the current Maltese Equality

for Men and Women Act, which no longer serves its purpose, as its distinctions in providing

for different grounds have created an unwanted hierarchy of grounds. The new equality act

is being proposed so as to present a less fragmented equality legal framework in Malta, and

it will also introduce pr ovisions on intersectionality.4 The ultimate aim of the proposed new

act is to have all the relevant provisions of the following E U directives included within one

comprehensive act of legislation: Directive 2000/43/EC, Directive 2000/78/EC, Directive

2004/113/EC and Directive 2006/54/EC. On 10 December 2015, International Human Rights

Day, the Ministry for Social Dialogue, Consumer Affairs and Civil Liberties presented drafts

of the two aforementioned bills during a publi c seminar. 5 These bills wer e opened for the

last round of public consultation prior to presentation to Parliament. The consultation process

ended on 31 January 2016. The respective bills were presented in Parliament in 2017 and

discussion commenced in November 2019.6 They are still in the process of enactment. There

is no publicly available information to show tha t there is any opposition to the int roduction

of these laws.

The proposed legislative framework for the new national human rights and equality

commission (NHREC), which will address human rights issues and violations and will monitor

and advise on human rights priorities in Malta,7 will focus on potential and current systematic

1 NSO News Release, 10 July 2019, No. 108/2019.

2 Labour Force Survey news release, 23 December 2019, No. 209/2019.

3 The white paper presented on 10 December 2014 by the Minister for Social Dialogue, Consumer Affairs and

Civil Liberties, Helena Dalli, launched a consultation process, which closed on 10 February 2015.

4 The eventual act should contain a general provision against discrimination as well as positive equality duties

and obligations. In addition, a revised list of grounds of discrimination is to be included to ensure that all

grounds of discrimination are adequately included within one act. Intersectional discrimination is also to be

tackled with specific provisions within the proposed legislation. The provisions of this act should cover all

spheres of life and will include provisions that allow for NGOs to submit cases on behalf of victims and for

the possibility of class action suits and the processing of cases of discrimination without the need to identify

an individual victim. Finally, provisions allowing for dissuasive sanctions in cases of proven discrimination

are also proposed.

5 https://meae.gov.mt/en/Public_Consultations/MSDC/Documents/2015%20HREC%20Final/Bill%20-

%20Equality%20Act.pdf;

https://meae.gov.mt/en/Public_Consultations/MSDC/Documents/2015%20HREC%20Final/Bill%20-

%20Human%20Rights%20and%20Equality%20Commission%20Act.pdf.

6 At this point, the aforementioned Minister pointed out that the original version of the bill had been amended

to take on board various recommendations made in 2018 by the Venice Commission, which had produced a

report on the rule of law in Malta.

7 The NHREC will remain independent but will be directly responsible to Parliament. The NHREC should be

vested with the ability to issue opinions, make legislative and policy proposals and also criticise the

Government or any of its entities on human rights and equality matters.