Bonnici: Necessary to keep law protecting public figures’ personal life

Bonnici: Necessary to keep law protecting public figures’ personal life

Justice minister Owen Bonnici has said that politicians’ personal matters must continue to be protected by law.

Bonnici yesterday tabled a draft of Media and Defamation Act in parliament, which is intended to replace the current Press Act. In the newly proposed law, the protection afforded to public figures from allegations about their personal lives being made in a public forum, has been retained.

Asked by MaltaToday, whether it would have made more sense to update the law in order to better define in what cases personal matters are in the public interest, Bonnici said that it was felt that this provision should be kept and that the Maltese courts have a wealth of experience to draw upon in determining what constitutes ‘public interest.’

“The current law provides for this and we felt that it should be kept,” he said. “It refers to domestic facts.”

Bonnici said that the Maltese courts had two big advantages in dealing with issues of freedom of expression. “[They] have been deciding cases like this for a very long time and as such, there is a wealth of experience and past sentences that can be referred to,” he said.

Moreover, the minister explained that the law aims to work within the context of European law. “Whatever is decided at the European Court of Human Rights impacts Maltese law and there are answers to these questions there,” he said, adding that the proposed new law “was a good exercise,” because it determined that which has been decided in European courts and included this in Maltese law.

Another change that would be brought about by the proposed law is the removal of precautionary warrants. On whether this would create a new class of defendant and that could in turn prove problematic in the future, Bonnici said it was quite “surreal” being asked such a question by a journalist and explained that it was one of many “new liberties” that was being given to journalists.