Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1249395
9 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 20 MAY 2020 NEWS MATTHEW VELLA THE former Nationalist minister who wanted to entrench the crime of abortion in the Maltese Consti- tution, has protested that equality bills being debated in Parliament, claiming they prevent Church schools from advancing lessons on the beginning of life in biolo- gy or the definition of traditional marriage. Tonio Borg, a former Europe- an Commissioner, said "the vile attack" of the equality bills to en- sure the absence of discrimination in several sectors, were hostile to Church schools. "There is no provision for con- scientious objection, but worse there is no provision for the right of Churches to run their own schools according to their own ethos," he wrote in The Times. While the bills allow faith- schools to freely run the teaching of religion, Borg claims the equality laws could prevent them from advancing a Catholic vision of their subjects. "What would happen if the Church schools – apart from the reli- gious lessons – teach Catho- lic thinking on liberty, the com- mencement of life in biology, the Catholic vision of the devel- opment of historical events, the definition of traditional marriage: the bills only protect such teach- ing in religion… not to mention the ludicrous provision that only religious symbols 'of a cultural value' are immune from the pro- visions of the bills. This means that those symbols which, though religious, are not of cultural value, can be subjected to a plethora of le- gal actions by lib- eral lobbies who consider them as offensive to the convictions of those who do not have any religion at all." Borg insisted that in- terfering in a Church school's curriculum when it comes to Catholic interpretations of history or biology was an infringement of the European Convention on Hu- man Rights, which lays down that States must respect parents' rights to ensure education is in con- formity with their own religious and philosophical convictions. In 2016 the Catholic Church in Malta issued a position paper en- dorsed by leading lay jurists such as Judge Giovanni Bonello and Prof. Kevin Aquilina, stating that the laws would place a very broad responsibility on educational establishments and vocational training entities with no clear and definite boundaries of what would be legally prohibited or permitted. In October 2016 the Church re- marked in its position paper that: "It is unfortunate that the free- dom which the European Union is allowing its member states under the current Equality Directives and envisaging under the pro- posed Equality Treatment Direc- tive in the implementation of the equality principle will apparently be used by the Maltese govern- ment to restrain the freedom which the Catholic Church, other Churches and other religious or- ganisations currently have in the administration of their respective institutions." The Nationalist Opposition has tabled an amendment stating that the duty to provide for equality in faith-based schools "should be within the limits of their compe- tence and ethos of such establish- ment or entity". Borg said this amendment would ensure equality and religious free- dom. "The conscience of parents, teachers and administrators, even of secular schools which, though not belonging to the Church have adopted a Catholic ethos, should be awakened to this hidden threat which tries to stealthily ren- der regimented our thinking and the education of our children. If these bills are passed as they are, we shall have only ourselves to blame if we do not raise our voic- es without fear and resist their un- just intrusion with the full force of our being." Equality laws won't let church schools teach 'Catholic biology' CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 In 2014, Caruana, now 60, was charged with money laundering, extortion, misappropriation and fraud to the detriment of the Fisheries department, after dis- crepancies were flagged up dur- ing internal audits. After admit- ting to the charges, his four-year prison sentence last week was reduced to three years of proba- tion on appeal. Azzopardi said in parliament this was a "judicial scandal". In the appeals decision hand- ed down on 15 May, the judge observed that there was no in- sistence on an effective prison term by the Attorney General at the appeal stage – also add- ing that society would "derive no protection" from the man's incarceration, since he should keep up with his repayments to his victims. "This declaration is crucial," Azzopardi said in the House. "It shows that during appeals stage, there was sentence bargaining between the AG's official and the accused." Azzopardi insisted that no such bargain can be made without first informing and having the approval of the Attorney Gener- al or the deputy AG themselves. "Mr Speaker I am in a position to reveal that Charles Mercieca, who just a few days ago left the state prosecutor to join the Yor- gen Fenech defence, made this sentence bargaining behind the back of the AG. They were not informed, when he was obliged to." Mercieca's departure from the AG, where he paid his leave so that he could appear by the side of Yorgen Fenech a mere 24 hours later, has now become the subject of a government inquiry led by former Chief Justice Jo- seph Azzopardi. Azzopardi also claimed that Mercieca was invited to the house of the Judge herself, Con- suelo Scerri Herrera, on social occasions. He did not specify when. "It is a known fact amongst many lawyers, that the law- yer himself was invited several times for dinner at home of the judge who decreed this sen- tence, because he is her son's best buddy." Azzopardi then said that Mer- cieca had also been in negoti- ations with the government's fisheries department two months before leaving the AG's employ, to be engaged as the department's legal consultant. "That is, while he was the prose- cutor in the case of money laun- dering against the department's own employee, during its appeal stage!" Azzopardi charged. He also added that in 2019, while Mercieca was a trainee lawyer at the AG's office – one year after having obtained his warrant – he had applied for a post at the European Public Prosecutor's Office "despite not having any experience in mutual legal assistance" as laid down in the call. "Naturally, on 5 December 2019, his application was thrown out when the interview took place in Luxembourg… and yet he was eligible to defend the case of the century when 24 hours earlier he had been on the other side of the fence," he said, refer- ring to Mercieca's appearance on the legal team defending Yor- gen Fenech. MP claims Mercieca did not consult AG on not insisting on prison sentence Tonio Borg Charles Mercieca Charles Mercieca