Against threat of referendum on spring hunting, FKNK files judicial protest

The Maltese hunting lobby has filed a judicial protest against BirdLife Malta over a threat to call for an abrogative referendum on spring hunting.

Malta last voted in a referendum on spring hunting in 2015, when the hunting lobby narrowly defeated the poll by just 1,500 votes.

In their judicial protest, the FKNK claimed that BirdLife’s warning that it would reopen talks for an abrogative referendum on Malta’s laws for spring hunting – which is banned by the EU – was a threat.

“It is a show of arrogance towards the vote in the last referendum in which the spring hunt was confirmed. This vote must be respected and since Birdlife Malta lost, it can't just decide to capriciously ignore it and call for another referendum to try to fulfil its agenda to its ultimate goal: the abolition of hunting and trapping from Malta,” FKNK president Lucas Micallef said.

The FKNK said BirdLlife was ignoring the decision by the European Court of Justice that had ruled in favour of a limited hunt in the spring, and that the Birds Directive recognised the need to maintain a balance between bird conservation and cultural and recreational needs. 

“The FKNK will continue to fight in favour of the continued practice of spring hunting, and do its utmost to defend the hunting and trapping practices of its members. We are ready to take any necessary steps to prevent Birdlife from again calling for an abrogative referendum, which would cost the Maltese taxpayer €6,000,000, also since such a request is nothing but total disrespect for a democratic decision that has already been taken.”

The 2015 referendum was held in conjunctions with the local council elections of at that time, costing a total of €4.6 million. The previous 2011 divorce referendum cost €2.2 million.

The FKNK has previously attempted to stop the 2015 referendum after a Constitutional Court green-lit the request for the referendum with a petition signed by over 40,000 people. A  total of 41,194 signatures in favour of the referendum were collected – easily surpassing the Electoral Commission’s threshold of 33,418 votes. After verifying the signatures, the Electoral Commission passed them on the Constitutional Court, requesting a referendum.

16 months after the hunting lobby, a self-proclaimed minority backed by over 104,000 people, narrowly won the spring hunting referendum, the FKNK insisted that the 1996 law in the Referenda Act which allows 10% of the electorate to invoke a referendum on whether to delete or retain a law, should be repealed so that other “minorities” are respected.

The FKNK’s claims contradict reassurances made by a group of Maltese legal experts, including former judge at the European Court of Human Rights Giovanni Bonello, who in the run-up to the spring hunting referendum in January 2015 had allayed fears that the spring hunting referendum will open the door to restrictions on other hobbies.