Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/884700
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 8 OCTOBER 2017 3 News DEN ISE GRECH THE Malta Gay Rights Move- ment (MGRM) has dismissed a motion presented by the Na- tionalist Party against granting medical leave to lesbian couples seeking IVF treatment abroad, as unnecessary and discrimina- tory. The MGRM said the motion, which calls for a change in the definition of prospective parents in the rules governing leave, as laid out in the Embryo Pro- tection Act, is based on a false premise. The legal notice currently grants 100 hours of leave to "any couple in a stable relationship accessing IVF treatment wheth- er in Malta or abroad". The MRGM praised the amendments that had broad- ened definitions of "prospective parents" to include both homo- sexual and heterosexual parents. But the Embryo Protection Act limits IVF services granted on the national health register to couples who are not gay, or who are not single women. The MGRM urged the gov- ernment to take the necessary steps to amend the Embryo Pro- tection Act to bring it in line with constitutional provisions, which ban discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity. Earlier in the week, the PN filed a motion in parliament pointing out a difference in the definition of the terms "pro- spective parents" and "medi- cally assisted procreation" in the Embryo Protection Act, and the legal notice that grants leave to couples seeking IVF. The Embryo Protection Act does not include homosexual couples, whereas the legal no- tice's definition of prospective parents includes individuals in civil unions, cohabitation or a stable relationship with each other. Prime Minister Joseph Mus- cat has also criticised the move, saying the PN's "new way looks worse than the old one." Equality Minister Helena Dalli has also lambasted the motion, saying it was unconstitutional. PN's motion on IVF leave 'discriminatory', says MGRM MATTHEW VELLA THE two regulatory authori- ties that govern Malta's public lands and planning process have both employed their former po- litical master, after she was not returned to office in the 2017 election. After revealing last Sunday that Deborah Schembri had been tak- en on by the Lands Authority as a legal consultant, MaltaToday can now confirm that the former parliamentary secretary is now also an employee of the Planning Authority. Schembri was responsible for both the planning and lands authorities, the latter regulator having been reformed under her stewardship. The PA's executive chairman, Johann Buttigieg confirmed with this newspaper that Schembri was now legal advisor to the PA's executive council, on a three- year contract of service. The ap- pointment was made by direct order of the council. The Lands Authority also con- firmed last Sunday that both Schembri and the consultant to the PA's demerger and Lands reform, Robert Musumeci, were acting as lawyers for the author- ity. Both Schembri and Musumeci appeared for the Lands Author- ity last week for a marathon ses- sion of some 47 cases before the Lands Arbitration Board. The LAB is a tribunal for cases that deal with the expropriation of private land and property, to decide on the compensation for such expropriations by the State. The Lands Authority refused to divulge how much the former minister and the government consultant are being paid. "The Lands Authority chose competent and honest law- yers well versed in government lands-related legislation to con- tinue working in the best inter- est of the authority," CEO Carlo Mifsud told MaltaToday. "The chosen advocates more than fulfil the criteria required to carry out the job entrusted to them and given their compe- tences they are held to be assets for the authority. They will be remunerated according to tariffs established by law. The authority holds that there is no conflict of interest in the appointments." Mifsud said Schembri was han- dling cases that concerned deci- sions taken prior to her tenure. "As in any other instance when it comes to advocacy, if there is any case in which she would have a conflict of interest deal- ing with, she will not take up the case and the case would be passed on to her colleague. How- ever given the type of cases that are under the jurisdiction of the LAB, these, if any at all, will be few and far between. Cases usu- ally concern expropriation of land that has taken place a few good legislatures back." Robert Musumeci, who pens a planning column for this news- paper, has already served the Labour government on two im- portant reforms: the demerger of the Planning Authority, and the creation of the Lands Author- ity in the wake of the Old Mint Street expropriation scandal that led to the resignation of then parliamentary secretary Michael Falzon. His appointment was in fact made by the parliamentary sec- retary at the time, Deborah Schembri. Former planning and lands minister is now lawyer for both planning, lands authorities