The Parliament of Malta versus the Constitution of Malta: parliament’s law-making function under section 65(1) of the Constitution

Abstract

This paper analyses section 65(1) of the Constitution of Malta, a provision that empowers parliament to make laws subject to certain restrictions, within the context of Malta’s dualism. Although parliament is subservient to the Constitution, the 2003 amendments made by the European Union Act to section 65(1) have further curtailed parliament’s law-making function. Parliament has to observe five new standards when enacting legislation. These standards have brought about a shift from Malta’s dualist approach to law making towards a mixed one of dualism/monism. The paper concludes that there is an inconsistency between section 6 of the Constitution proclaiming the Constitution to be suprema lex and section 3 of the European Union Act announcing European Union law as supreme law. However no conflict should arise in practice once Maltese law, in terms of section 65(1), has to confirm with Malta’s regional obligations including those assumed under the European Union Accession Treaty.