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MALTATODAY 10 January 2021

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2 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 10 JANUARY 2021 NEWS Delivery fee of just €1 per day for orders up to 5 newspapers per address To subscribe 1. Email us your choice of newspapers, recipient's name, address, contact number to production @millermalta.com 2. Forward cheques payable to Miller Distributors Ltd on address: Miller House, Airport Way, Tarxien Road, Luqa LQA1814 Queries on other news- papers and magazines, production@ millermalta.com maltatoday Same-day delivery of your favourite Sunday newspaper Monday-Friday MaltaToday Midweek • €1 BusinessToday • €1.50 Sunday MaltaToday • €1.95 ILLUM • €1.25 Support your favourite newspaper with a subscription https://bit.ly/2X9csmr KURT SANSONE NO consolidation of legislation has taken place since 2013 by the Law Commission, because this is an "ongoing project"according to Law Commissioner Antonio Mizzi. The commission was creat- ed at law in 1980 but the first law commissioner was only appointed in 2013 when an incoming Labour government nominated former PN MP Franco Debono. Former judge Antonio Mizzi succeeded Debono in 2019. The commission's role is to review legislation, propose consolidation where necessary and ensure that language con- flicts between the Maltese and English versions are resolved. It may also carry out other work assigned to it by the jus- tice minister. However, its work remains largely unknown since the commission is not obliged to publish any annual reports and recommendations made to the justice minister. "The Law Commission has not consolidated legislation, in view of the fact that this is presently an ongoing project. The recommendations of the Law Commission are provid- ed to the minister responsible who has the capacity to act. However, it would not be rec- ommendable to publish any recommendations so provid- ed, based on the fact that some may be subject to internal discussion," Mizzi said when asked for a breakdown of the work conducted by the com- mission since 2013. He added that the law of 1980 regulating the Law Com- missioner does not stipulate whether a report of any kind should be drafted and hand- ed to the minister, Cabinet, or parliament. "In view of this, there are no annual reports to be provided with details and breakdowns of the work of the Law Commis- sion," Mizzi said. Justice Minister Edward Zam- mit Lewis said the current ad- ministration made sure the commission was active and ful- ly functioning. He said government invest- ed more than €150,000 to re- furbish offices in Valletta and provide the commission with full-time staff and consultants. "Throughout my time as min- ister responsible for justice, I continued to work closely with Law Commissioner Judge An- tonio Mizzi, who continues to provide researched reports to improve our legislative frame- work and improve the efficien- cy in our justice system," Zam- mit Lewis said. He said any reforms ema- nating from the commission's work were concluded by the minister through proposed leg- islative changes. An exercise carried out in 2014 to clean up Malta's stat- ute book led government to repeal 36 outdated laws and 116 legal notices. Another nine laws were consolidated. The spring-cleaning exercise, dubbed Repeals Day, was part of government's attempt to cut bureaucracy and simplify pub- lic administration. However, the exercise did not form part of the remit of the Law Commission. Consolidation of laws an 'ongoing project', former judge says The commission was created at law in 1980 but the first law commissioner was only appointed in 2013 when an incoming Labour government nominated former PN MP Franco Debono. Former judge Antonio Mizzi succeeded Debono in 2019

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