Constitutional challenge to Freedom of Information law

A Constitutional case challenging Malta’s Freedom of Information Act and the misuse of FOI procedures to block or limit access to information within a reasonable time, has been launched by a team of Public Interest Litigation Network (PILN) lawyers and the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation.

The lawyers are arguing that the remedies the FOI Act provides do not respect the right to freedom of expression and information protected by Article 41 of the Constitution.

The case is based on FOI requests for a secret agreement, signed by the then-Minister of Energy, Konrad Mizzi, on behalf of Malta Government and by SOCAR Trading SA, and for a report on the feasibility of a second interconnector to Malta. The energy ministry has refused both FOI requests on questionable grounds.

The energy ministry later supplied a redacted version of the feasibility report, in response to a ruling by the Information and Data Protection Commissioner.

The Constitutional case aims to limit state authorities’ arbitrary refusals to provide information in the public interest and to reverse the culture of secrecy behind their claims of privacy and commercial sensitivity, enabling public interest journalism to hold power to account.

The respondents have raised preliminary pleas challenging the Constitutional action, in relation to which they will need to present evidence at the next hearing on 14 November 2022.

Public Interest Litigation Network (PILN) members Dr Claire Bonello, Dr Alain Muscat, and Dr Joseph Mizzi are acting on behalf of the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation and its director. Background - Public Interest Litigation Network (PILN).

The PILN is a network of lawyers focussed on cases of human rights violations and other matters of public interest, exploring national, supranational, and international legal mechanisms to ensure State and individual accountability, address abuses of power, and engage civil society and the legal community to advance social change.

It is currently made up of 16 members covering a wide range of legal expertise with years of experience in human rights, media, environmental and planning, constitutional, commercial, and civil law. Five members form the Governance Committee which oversees the function of the network and selects cases for onward referral to its members.

The PILN was launched by the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation in September 2021, but functions autonomously. It is currently funded by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA Grants Active Citizens Fund, which is operated in Malta by the NGO, SOS Malta.