Human Rights Protection under the Constitution of Malta
Dr Austin Bencini
Synopsis
THE SUPREMACY OF HUMAN RIGHTS ?
The inclusion in the Constitution of Malta of a chapter dedicated to the protection of
Fundamental Human Rights enforceable by the Constitutional Court of Malta and by
the First Hall in its constitutional jurisdiction was done so that Fundamental Human
Rights would partake of the very supremacy of the Constitution of Malta qua Malta's
supreme law as enunciated ay article 6 of the Constitution.
The practice of constitutional enforcement of Fundamental Human Rights has given
rise to contrasting interpretations on the judiciary's role in enforcing judicial
pronouncements involving the invalidity of laws which infringe the rights contained in
Chapter 4 of the Constitution.
Contrasting theories on the inter-relationship between the Court's constitutional
power to abrogate laws as against the court's power to nullify law has given rise to a
revisiting of Malta' constitutional model of the doctrine of the separation powers.
The latest developments in the on-going doctrinal and jurisprudential evolution on
the constitutional protection of Fundamental Human Rights will be analysed within
the context of Parliamentary or constitutional supremacy.