Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1197486
5 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 5 JANUARY 2020 NEWS harassment, and not in the expression of gender stereo- types or disparaging remarks based on gender constructs. Most of the candidates sit- ting for ethics chose to an- swer the questions in English, with some students finding it difficult to communicate their arguments. While expressing satisfac- tion at the overall grades, ex- aminers expressed concern on the fact that 18% of stu- dents who registered for the exam failed to show up for the examination. Only 7% of the religious studies candidates were ab- sent. Candidates were asked to give a practical example of how a Christian can behave well in the Christian life he or she embraces. According to the examiners most have "very little knowledge about what being a Christian en- tails". "Most candidates only an- swered that one has to live well, respect others, and help others… These can be listed as human values, rather than Christian values." Other answers were found to be more adequate. These included obeying parents even 'when we don't agree', helping someone who 'hasn't helped us when we were in need' and treating 'those whom we don't like' with love and compassion. When asked about abortion, most answered "correctly and in detail about what abortion is, but were a bit less specific and gave less details about why the Church considers it a sin". Most replied that since the Church is against killing, it is against abortion too – but failed to explain why. The vast majority of the 1,044 candidates sitting for the religious studies 'paper B', who can only aim for a pass mark, showed "limited reli- gious knowledge". Heaven was described as a place of rest and bliss while hell was a place for criminals. The presence of God, or the absence of God, did not fea- ture in most answers. "Even though uncalled for, many referred to Purgatory as a time or place for the deci- sion about the eventual trans- fer either to heaven or hell," the examiners said. Neither did most under- stand what Jesus meant when he compared the Church to a field of wheat and weeds. The majority of students replied that he said that because in the Church 'you find every- thing'. Very few answered well, comparing the weeds to the bad and wheat to the righteous. jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt MATTHEW AGIUS DISBARRED lawyer Patrick Spiteri has filed an urgent Constitutional case, claim- ing that his fundamental hu- man rights were breached by a court's decision to revoke a decree allowing him to travel abroad whilst on bail. Spiteri, who is facing fraud and misappropriation charges amounting to some €7.4 mil- lion in a case dating back 20 years, had been granted per- mission to travel on work- related trips in September after spending months under house arrest. Spiteri had been arrested in Surrey, England in 2014 and extradited to Malta in 2017 on serious fraud and misappropriation charges, under seven European Arrest Warrants, after having first escaped from custody, and then resisted being extradit- ed on the basis that he had a medical condition. After spending eight months in custody, Spiteri was re- leased on bail on Christmas Day, 2017. In September 2019, he was granted a variation of his bail conditions that would al- low him to work abroad after hearing his lawyer argue that he had become practically un- employable in Malta. He was allowed to travel for five working days every third week of the month, after in- forming the police of his trav- el itinerary. But this arrangement came under fire from the Attor- ney General's office, which obtained a revocation of this arrangement, arguing before the Criminal Court that this was simply an example of "sheer persistence" by Spiteri. This was followed by an ap- peal application filed by Spi- teri's new lawyers Ian Refalo, Mark Refalo and Sarah Grech, who argued that the decree was issued after refusing to hear testimony about poten- tial guarantees which Spiteri's lawyers had wanted to pre- sent. In the application, Spiteri's lawyers argued that the de- cree was issued without any deliberation on his com- plaints. In a decree handed down on 7 November, the Criminal Court had rejected his request after refusing to hear testimony about poten- tial guarantees which Spi- teri's lawyers had wanted to present. The Criminal Court had "rested completely" on what had previously been said on 30 September, "without making the slightest reflec- tion on whether the conclu- sion was reasonable in the circumstances or whether the Criminal Court had weighed the facts correctly," Spiteri's lawyers said. This amounted to a breach of his right to a fair hearing and personal liberty under the Constitution and the Euro- pean Convention on Human Rights because the Crimi- nal Court was not the court which was hearing his case on the merits and had effectively been misled, he argued. They argued that it was "un- reasonable" to deprive Spiteri of the ability to provide for himself and his family. The man's lawyers explained that the case was filed as "ur- gent" because of a pending job offer that he stood to lose if his ability to travel was cur- tailed. The case is due to con- tinue on January 8. Disbarred lawyer Patrick Spiteri fights revocation of bail Position may be co-funded through European Union Funding/Bilateral Funds PROGRAMME OFFICER (EU FUNDS) Applications are invited for the positions of Programme Officer (EU Funds) in the Ministry for European Affairs and Equality. Applicants for the Programme Officer (EU Funds) position must be in possession of a recognized Bachelors qualification at MQF Level 6 in relevant areas plus one year relevant work experience Applications will be received at the Corporate Services Directorate, Ministry for European Affairs and Equality, 31B, Tal-Pilar, Marsamxett Road, Valletta, VLT 1850 by not later than noon of Tuesday 7 th January 2020. Further details may be obtained from the Government Gazette of 20 th December 2020. Application forms may be downloaded from: https://publicservice.gov.mt/en/people/Pages/PeopleResourcingandComplian ce/FormsandTemplates.aspx Further details may be obtained from the Government Gazette of 30 th Patrick Spiteri, who is facing fraud and misappropriation charges amounting to some €7.4 million in a case dating back 20 years, had been granted permission to travel on work-related trips