Owen Bonnici highlights need for greater judiciary training

Malta, together with the majority of European member states, has agreed on the need for the judiciary to undergo greater training and has insisted the importance of safeguarding the rights of individuals connected with the justice sector, Parliamentary Secretary for Justice Owen Bonnici said.

During a Justice Ministers Council, Bonnici said that the it is fundamental for recently unveiled Justice Scoreboard not to create extra bureaucracy and measures that already exist within the European council.

The Justice Scoreboard, a comparative tool to promote effective justice in the EU, seeks to provide reliable and objective data on the justice systems of all member states. Particularly, it seeks to analyse the quality, independent and the efficiency of the justice system, which according to the EU are the key components of an effective implementation of EU law.

"It is important for the Scoreboard not to create additional processes that already exist within the European Council, while it has to be ensure that the collected data is compatible between all European states."

On the rights pertinent to data protection, Bonnici said that the EU, in discussing any measures and laws, must take into account the foremost importance: The citizen's interest.

"In scrutinizing the means to combat date theft and offences violated the right to the individuals data protection, it is essential for the EU to facilitate the individual's enjoyment of rights and interests."

"The measures must ensure that the individual's personal data is protected, thus including his name, photo, email address, bank details as well as IP addresses."

Bonnici also called for the EU to update the 1995 directive on the protection of individuals in date processing.

"The EU directives must reflect the current technological advances that occurred during the years and consequently, an update should be in the pipeline to ensure that all the individual's date is protected."