Petition seeks to put English on par with Maltese in law courts

A petition is seeking legal changes to court procedures so that the use of the English language is put on equal footing to Maltese in judicial proceedings.

The petition was filed by a certain David Lorenzo Alvarez on Parliament's website. It is asking Parliament's petitions committee to introduce legislation that ensures people can "equally exercise their rights and access to public services, including the judiciary, in either of the official languages" of Malta.

The working language in court is Maltese and this is sanctioned by law. If an individual is not able to converse in the language an interpreter is provided. In certain cases, English may be spoken but it is at the discretion of the presiding judge or magistrate.

Justifying the petition, Alvarez argued that the 50-year-old law dictating that Maltese is the language used in court has to be updated to reflect Maltese society today.

He said this situation was also an issue for international investors because there were situations in which they could not access the courts, "even when no advocate nor representative is required".

The petition claims that despite Malta’s economic growth, in multiple sectors citizens and investors were not being treated equally.

The petition calls on MPs to adopt a “fairer model” such as those already in place in Ireland, Luxembourg, Canada, Switzerland and Brussels.

Each of these countries has a model which allows citizens to access public services and judicial proceedings in either of the official languages of the country when a translation is not possible and/or if an interpretation is provided.  

The petition, which was filed on 9 October had only seven signatures as of this evening and will remain open for people to sign until 23 December.    

The petition can be accessed here.