Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/710370
8 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 3 AUGUST 2016 News IN ALL LEADING BOOK SHOPS HISTORY OF ORNITHOLOGY IN MALTA Lawyers insist public bodies should be led by 'mature, legally competent' people THE Chamber of Advocates has called for a reform in the appointment of commissions, public boards and government bodies, insisting that they must be composed of "mature" people with a certain degree of legal know-how. "No board or commission should have the power to ig- nore legal arguments on the ba- sis that such arguments should be reserved for the courts," the Chamber said in a statement. "The law is the only objective criterion on which a quasi-judi- cial body should base its deci- sions." The Chamber was reacting to the Planning Commission chairperson's recent dismissal of a lawyer's argument by accus- ing him of "showing off with the law". "You are not in a court of law; this is a planning commission," Elizabeth Ellul had told lawyer Massimo Vella during a recent hearing on whether two Msida townhouses should be demol- ished. The Chamber of Advocates led by George Hyzler accused El- lul of acting aggressively and of lacking maturity. "No lawyer should be attacked for raising legal arguments in procedures in which he is as- sisting a client," it said. "That is a lawyer's professional duty and any attempt to hinder him from carrying out his duties is noth- ing less than a rampant breach of the basic principles of a fair fairing. "If the person judging the case doesn't feel competent to lis- ten to and evaluate legal argu- ments, then they must either be replaced by a more competent person or receive the necessary assistance." It added that it has received similar reports from lawyers who have been similarly hin- dered from carrying out their professional duties, as Vella had. "It is unfortunate that, in 2016, we have to explain such funda- mental principles to our coun- try's rule of law culture. How- ever, these principles are being ignored by [people in charge of boards] due to their lack of un- derstanding of basic legal prin- ciples or perhaps because of mere arrogance." Chamber of Advocates president George Hyzler (centre) French man and woman charged with theft A 29-year old man and a 25-year- old woman, both French, were ar- raigned in court in Gozo yesterday, charged with theft. When they appeared in front of magistrate Paul Coppini, the two pleaded guilty to stealing from a shop in Ghajnsielem on Sunday, and were sentenced to pay back €184. They were sentenced to one year's imprisonment, suspended for two years. Albanian charged with trying to enter UK from Malta using fake passport AN Albanian national was ar- raigned in Court and charged with trying to enter the UK illegally from Malta, using a fake Greek passport because he did not have a visa. British immigration police arrested 36-year-old Arel Ce- pele. When he appeared in front of magistrate Charmaine Galea, he pleaded not guilty, and was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment, sus- pended for three years. Police inspector Mario Haber prosecuted. Bodies of 120 refugees found on Libyan shores in 10 days THE bodies of 120 refugees have washed up on the shores of Libya in the past 10 days, the Interna- tional Organisation for Migration (IOM) said on Tuesday. The bodies are believed to be of people who found themselves shipwrecked in the Mediterra- nean, which authorities were not aware of. Speaking at a press briefing, IOM spokesperson Joel Millman said that a total of 4,027 refugees have died worldwide so far this year, adding that this was a 35% increase on the global toll during the first seven months of 2015. Three-quarters of these refu- gees, 3,120 of them, Millman said, died in the Mediterranean while trying to reach Europe. According to IOM statistics, the deaths oc- curred between 1 January and 31 July of 2016, and is an increase of 58% when compared with 1,970 in the same period of 2015. Taking 2015 in total, at least 3,771 refugees lost their lives crossing the Mediterranean. Human rights groups have con- tinuously been calling for safer passages, but their calls for most part fall on deaf ears. "We are well on track to exceed- ing the total number of known deaths that occurred in 2015," Niels Frenzen, director of the Im- migration Clinic at USC Gould School of Law said. Maltese students enjoy the third longest summer holidays in Europe A new report by the European Commission shows that Maltese students enjoy the third longest school summer holidays in Europe. Holidays in Malta traditionally start on 30 June and end on 18 Sep- tember, meaning students have 11 and a half weeks of holidays. The report, entitled "Organi- saiton of school time in Europe" which focuses on the scholastic year of 2014/15, found that while primary school children in the UK get six weeks of holiday, the same as those in Denmark and Germa- ny, those in Italy receive more than double – and the most in the EU – at 13 weeks. While Italy is at the top of the list, coun- tries such as Greece and Portugal follow hot on its tail with 12 weeks of sum- mer vacation, while school children in Spain, Hungary and Finland receive 11 weeks. Swedish primary schoolchil- dren receive 10 weeks of summer holiday, while France, Belgium and Ireland shut the school gates for nine weeks. Countries at the other end of the list apart from the United Kingdom, Denmark and Ger- many, whose school children only re- ceive six weeks of va- cation, also include the Netherlands and Norway with eight weeks.