Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1513149
5 NEWS 7.12.2023 AMENDMENTS proposed by the gov- ernment to the legal framework regulat- ing freezing orders will mean the duration of garnishee orders issued against indi- viduals accused of financial crimes being slashed by half. And persons targeted by freezing orders will be allowed to continue their business or profession until their conviction or ac- quittal. ese are but two of several amend- ments which are being ramrodded through Parliament by Justice Minister Jonathan Attard. Attard claims the amendments - which are to be published in the next Govern- ment Gazette - were part of a holistic exercise to improve effectiveness and jus- tice. But opposition leader Bernard Grech has accused the government of trying to appease people accused of corruption through its fast-tracking of the amend- ments. And in Parliament on Monday, PN justice spokesman Karol Aquilina ques- tioned who the government is trying to protect, hinting at former Prime Minis- ter Joseph Muscat. Speculation has been mounting that the former PM could be charged in connection with the fraudu- lent hospitals deal. e new Act proposes a common pro- cedure that ensures the proportionality of garnishee orders, freezing orders and confiscation orders in money laundering proceedings. Garnishee orders in related proceedings will now be valid for six months and sub- ject to variations as well as the release of funds to ensure a decent standard of liv- ing. Prosecutors applying for freezing orders will now have to specify what property or how much money is to be frozen within 90 days of arraignment and the decision to uphold the requests for such an order will now be subject to appeal before the Criminal Court. As the law currently stands, persons subject to freezing orders are allowed to withdraw less than €13,000 annually. Moreover, the amounts frozen may be varied upon a request by one of the par- ties and the defendant will be allowed to withdraw a maximum of the average an- nual salary, as determined by the Minis- ter, in order to live a decent lifestyle. Additionally, defendants struck by such orders will be able to ask the court to al- low them to continue operating their business, trade or profession. Requests for withdrawals for recurring expenses, such as loans, insurance payments and school fees, which currently require applications to be filed and upheld for every such with- drawal, will now be made only once. When announcing the amendments, Attard pointed out that "in the past two or three years, Malta had started fighting financial crime very aggressively," and that the amendments were also necessary for the courts to be effective when executing judgments handed down abroad. e amendments to the law introduce a right of appeal both to conviction and to court-ordered confiscations of property or assets. e Criminal Court, after find- ing guilt, will now have to establish the value of - and identify -the cash, property and other assets which were derived from criminal activity. Asked by our sister newspaper MaltaTo- day as to why the Minister appeared to be increasing the rights of persons accused of financial crimes, at a time when Malta is already struggling to successfully pros- ecute them, Attard said that the updates to the law had been drafted after a con- sultation process involving the Law Com- missioner, prosecutors from the Attorney General's Office, the State Advocate, the National Coordinating Committee on Combating Money Laundering and the Asset Recovery Bureau. 84 cases involving money laundering charges have been filed in just the past 3 years, according to statistics published by the Ministry for Justice. Attard was keen to stress that the amendments did not affect freezing or- ders issued in proceedings related to drug trafficking. Freezing orders currently require every withdrawal from the frozen accounts to be applied for and upheld by the court, which was causing excessive hardship, he said. "People have to apply to the court to buy medicines every month [at the mo- ment]." Using the example of a family busi- ness in which only one family member is struck by a freezing order, he said the law as it currently stood would drive the business to bankruptcy, unable to pay its creditors or deposit its earnings. Opposition takes aim at amendments to soften impact of court orders in financial crime proceedings Justice Minister Jonathan Attard THE Global Sustainable Tour- ism Council (GSTC) and Malta Tourism Authority (MTA) have signed a Memorandum of Un- derstanding (MOU), aiming to improve and strengthen cooper- ation and collaboration between the two parties to generate re- spective synergies and promote the application of sustainability practices and the GSTC Criteria in travel and tourism in Malta. GSTC will support the MTA in the re-launch and operation of the Maltese national program for sustainable hotels/accom- modations. e signing was done by GSTC CEO, Randy Durband and Car- lo Micallef, MTA Chief Execu- tive Officer, at the first National Tourism Conference organized by the Malta Tourism Obser- vatory, held on Wednesday 6th December 2023. e event, which took place at the Medi- terranean Conference Centre in Valletta, featured local and international speakers and fo- cused on issues that were rele- vant to the tourism sector, from a local, regional, and global per- spective. "is partnership with Mal- ta Tourism Authority signifies a commitment to fostering a more sustainable future in tour- ism, aligning our mutual goals for a better tomorrow. We look forward to a productive part- nership with MTA," said Randy Durband, GSTC CEO. Carlo Micallef, CEO of the MTA, added that sustainability in all aspects of tourism is an important commitment, and MTA believes that GSTC has the necessary expertise and solid reputation that will be an asset for the implementation of our tourism strategy. MTA and GSTC sign MOU for the application of sustainability practices in tourism in Malta