Former Lord Chief Justice of England Igor Judge urges social media users to safeguard their privacy, stressing it was a human right that our predecessors fought for.
Addressing a lecture on human rights, organised by the Strickland Foundation, he said social media, which has changed the world in the past 10 years, provided personal information to entities.
“We need to have our eyes peeled about this human brilliance, where is this taking us,” he asked, noting that officials were getting to know more about social media users than they wanted.
The Maltese-born judge expressed concern that principles of freedom could be overlooked.
There will always be an independent press to identify abuses and an independent judiciary to defend rights, however the greatest threat to our rights was the assumption that things “will be all right”, forgetting there was once a democratic system that was subverted by Adolf Hitler.
Safeguarding our human rights was not about high-standing constitutional laws but about how deeply we cherished our liberties and rights for which the older generation fought and died, he said.
The greatest threat to our rights was the assumption that things will be all right
Fielding questions from some of the hundreds who packed into the Phoenicia Hotel’s ballroom, Lord Judge said while an unborn child had its own rights, so did parents.
Earlier he noted that at certain instances human rights were not absolute, and the right to life for a group of people could override the same right of a person who opened fire on them.
He chose not to give his opinion when asked for it about criminal libel, a much-criticised procedure that is still in existence in Malta, stating: “I have an opinion on the matter, but I will not say it.”
Chief Justice Silvio Camilleri, judges and several lawyers were among those who attended Thursday night’s speech by the judge, who was given a grand farewell when he retired last September.
Described by Lord Dyson, master of the rolls, as one “of [the UK’s] greatest chief justices”, he is credited with having been responsible for leading the judiciary of England and Wales during a period of unprecedented difficulties and challenges.
Lord Judge’s lecture was followed by the presentation of a trophy, a cash prize of €5,000, and a certificate to Shirley Jobson, of San Ġwann, who won the foundation’s writing competition with an entry discussing the plight of refugees.
In her fictional piece, Ms Jobson spoke about refugees who risked their lives to cross to Malta and the negative and unreceptive reaction these arrivals brought about among the population who see irregular migrants as a threat.
Runner-up Evelyn Borg Costanzi, of Attard, won €1,500, while eight runners-up received a certificate.The entries varied from a piece of fiction to an essay, a journalistic contribution to an academic paper. In all, the adjudicators selected 10 entries from the 51 they considered.