Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/847822
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 12 JULY 2017 News 6 MATTHEW VELLA Malta's alliance of Christian evangelical churches is claim- ing that the amendments to marriage laws may not extend "religious protection" to all members of religious bodies. The amendments that will pave the way for same-sex marriage include "religious protection" in the Constitution of Malta for an "officer of a re- ligious body". The Maltese Constitution already grants citizens full freedom of conscience and the right to enjoy the free exercise of religious worship. "We would like to have the peace of mind that none of our members will be 'forced' to act against their conscience, see- ing that Article 32(a) states that as Maltese we have 'free- dom of conscience'," Edwin Caruana, head of TEAM (The Evangelical Alliance of Malta), said. TEAM is seeking that mem- bers of religious organisations be accorded a right akin to 'conscientious objection'. "We seek that our rights to freedom of religion and freedom of conscience be re- spected. We are duty bound to protect our member churches, organizations, and individuals from any attempt to curb or obstruct religious freedom or freedom of conscience which are guaranteed by internation- al human rights laws." Caruana said that although TEAM was aware that mar- riage equality will not affect religious marriage, it was still concerned about religious rights. "As Christians we believe that according to Biblical teaching, God ordained marriage as a union between one man and one woman for the reason of love and pro-creation. As far as we are concerned no hu- man law will ever erase this, as we believe that God does not change His principles but is constant in His decrees. "We also recognize that we have no right to impose our be- liefs on those that are not part of our Evangelical Christian churches, but on the same note, no one should have the right to impose on us a redefinition of beliefs that we have held dear for thousands of years! If this was to be imposed on us we would find it unacceptable and infringing on our rights." Caruana said that religious protection should not be re- stricted only to "officers" of churches but also to the indi- vidual members. "We request that conscientious objection be applied to all active members pertaining to our Christian churches." Evangelicals seek 'right for conscientious objection' on same-sex marriage TEAM is aware that marriage equality will not affect religious marriage, but remains concerned about religious rights Citizens could be compensated for suing public domain law-breakers Environment minister reveals plans to incentivise citizens to sue those who restrict public access to foreshore TIM DIACONO CITIZENS who report breaches of the new public domain law, which safeguards public ac- cess to the foreshore and other sites, could be compensated for their troubles. Labour had pledged in its electoral manifesto to include a clause in the law that would empower all citizens to report people who restrict public ac- cess to sites that have been de- clared as public domain. Now environment minister Jose Herrera has told Malta- Today that the government is considering compensating such citizens if the court rules in their favour, as a means of incentivising environmental activism. The citizen will either be compensated directly by the law-breaker him/herself or by a new government fund that will be set up for that purpose. "I had promised in our mani- festo that any Tom, Dick or Harry who spots an infringe- ment of the principles of the public domain law can, out of their own initiative, sue the authority or individual con- cerned," Herrera said. "We are now considering whether these citizens should be com- pensated if the court rules in their favour. The compensa- tion could be paid by either the law-breaker or from a state fund." The law, which was passed unanimously in Parliament last year, automatically in- cludes the first 15 metres of coastline as being part of the public domain, meaning that the public should have access to it. Other sites can be included in that list, and indeed the Plan- ning Authority last week re- leased for public consultation a list of 24 proposed public domain sites – including the Nwadar nature park, a site at Manoel Island, a site at Kalan- ka in Delimara, and at Hondoq in Qala. The law is not retroactive, meaning that the courts will have no power to take action on restricted access to public domain sites before they were declared as such. Herrera added that the law does not prohibit all sorts of development on public domain sites, but rather forces appli- cants to pass through a more rigorous and transparent pro- cess. "I can't just up and say that there shouldn't be any develop- ment at all in certain areas, be- cause circumstances are con- stantly being dictated by the realities of the time," he said. Herrera 'agrees in principle' with plans to privatise coast- line Indeed, tourism minister Konrad Mizzi last month an- nounced plans to privatise part of the coastline between Sliema and Pembroke and de- velop them into new beaches. These include the site of the former Chalet in Sliema, which Mizzi has pledged will remain free to the public but trans- formed into a "top-class" bath- ing site so as to render it more appealing to tourists. Questioned by MaltaToday, Herrera said he agrees in prin- ciple with the plans. "I'm not against privatisation as I believe that it should be the private sector that drives the economy," he said. "I haven't seen Konrad Mizzi's plans and there should be proper impact studies on them, but in princi- ple I am in favour of privatisa- tion when done in a transpar- ent and careful manner." The environment minister added that the Chalet proposal shouldn't prove controversial, as it had already been run by a private company back in its heyday. He added that he would per- sonally like to see another cha- let built on the site, with the décor a throwback to that of its iconic predecessor. Environment minister Jose Herrera said that the law forces applicants to pass through a more rigorous and transparent process