Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1522096
7 NEWS maltatoday | SUNDAY • 9 JUNE 2024 OPEN CALLS FOR PROJECT PROPOSALS IMPORTANT NOTICE Extension of Closing Date for Project Proposals under the European Social Fund+ 2021-2027 The Managing Authority would like to notify interested applicants that the closing date for the below call under Priority 3 - Quality and inclusive education and enhanced lifelong learning for growth is being extended as follows: • Call 7 – Specific Objective: 4.7 – Lifelong learning and career transitions open to Government Departments, public entities, social partners, Non- Governmental Organisations and voluntary organisations is being extended from 17 th June 2024 to 15 th July 2024, noon. For further information, the Managing Authority can be contacted via email at fondi.eu@gov.mt. Company Registration C105380 Number Registered Office 164, Fleur De Lys Road, Birkirkara, BKR 4965 Email Address: info@hiresmartservice.com LETTER OF INTENTION The Directors of Recruitment Ltd. hereby declare our intention to register for an Employment Agency license in accordance with Article 23 of the Employment and Training Services Act, 1990 (Act XXVIII of 1990). Our proposed activities align with our commitment to facilitating seamless employment opportunities and enhancing recruitment processes. The intended activities are as follows: - Recruitment Consultancy - Interviewing, Selection, and Placement - Recruitment of International Candidates - Local Recruitment - Vacancy Advertising - Applicant Register Management Company Name: Hire Smart Services Ltd. At Hire Smart Services Ltd., we are dedicated to upholding the highest standards of professionalism, integrity, and compliance in all our endeavors. Our mission is to foster mutually beneficial employment relationships that contribute positively to the growth and success of both employers and job seekers. Official Registered: France,Triq F.S.Caruana,Birkirkara Company Registration Number: C 105380 to EU Court over fines Maltese courts refuse to uphold to clarify whether Directive 2015/849 allowed it to impose administrative measures and sanctions "which may be clas- sified as criminal although they are not a result of criminal law as normally understood" and whether Article 39 of the Con- stitution of Malta might "un- dermine the primacy, unity and effectiveness of EU law". But the request was turned down by the Constitution- al Court: "By law the Maltese State opted for administrative sanctions to be imposed by the FIAU. It is the sanctions being imposed by the FIAU that are giving rise to various cases in which the persons subject are complaining that a breach of Art. 39 of the Constitution has occurred." Phoenix Payments case The FIAU is appealing a judge's ruling that its admin- istrative penalties are uncon- stitutional and in breach of the rights of subject persons to be tried by an independent court. The landmark judgment was handed down in a case brought by payment processing compa- ny Phoenix Payments against the FIAU's power to act as investigator, prosecutor and judge when it slapped it with a €435,000 fine in 2021. The Court ruled that the FI- AU did not classify as a court as prescribed by law, and that its power to impose adminis- trative penalties on the basis of the Prevention of Money Laun- dering Act, was unconstitu- tional and therefore in breach of the European Convention of Human Rights. According to this law, the FI- AU may impose administrative penalties not exceeding €5 mil- lion. In another judgement, Mr Justice Toni Abela said the FI- AU's onerous fines were puni- tive and "quasi-criminal", and therefore should be issued by a court or juridical body that gives such companies the ba- sic right of being tried by an independent and autonomous tribunal. Mr Justice Abela said the FI- AU's punishments were "com- pletely illegal because they are not sanctioned by any law and the law reigns over everyone." The FIAU's own policy, as stated by an internal document it presented in another case concerning a challenge to its compliance measures, is that fines "should be punitive and act as a deterrent to non-com- pliance" where subject-persons would consider these penalties as a 'mere cost of doing busi- ness' but significant enough to impact on the annual income." However, Mr Justice Abela said the FIAU's fines were so punitive that they force the ap- pellant companies to wind up operations. The judge said punitive fines could only be issued by bodies that offered the necessary le- gal protections and that those who did not, would not find the court as their defence, and described the FIAU's sanctions policy, through which the fines are calculated, as "convoluted, opaque and byzantine". Chief Justice Mark Chetcuti