Opposition walkout sinks human rights commission bill

A bill establishing a national human rights and equality commission failed to clear parliament on Wednesday after Opposition MPs walked out before the final vote.

The legislation required the support of two-thirds of MPs because it proposed amendments to the Constitution.

With the Opposition benches empty, the bill secured 38 votes from government MPs and none against, leaving it short of the required majority.

Opposition whip Ivan Castillo had urged the government to postpone the vote and reopen talks with stakeholders and civil society organisations.

Castillo said the Opposition supported the creation of an equality commission in principle and had backed the bill at Second Reading. However, he said it could not support the government pressing ahead without further consultation.

He accused the government of disregarding parliament and civil society, announcing that Opposition MPs would leave the chamber rather than take part in the vote.

Equality Minister Rosianne Cutajar, who piloted the legislation, criticised the decision.

She said parliament had been presented with an opportunity to establish, for the first time, an institution responsible for safeguarding human rights and equality.

“History will judge you and us,” she told Opposition MPs before moving the bill’s Third Reading.

The Opposition then left the chamber, after which Speaker Carmelo Abela called the vote.

Walkout comes after widespread criticism

The walkout followed mounting criticism from organisations representing employers, businesses, insurers, pharmacists, women and church schools, which argued that legislation of such constitutional and social significance should not be approved without wider consultation.

While the organisations generally supported stronger protections against discrimination, they raised concerns about specific provisions and the speed at which the bill was being pushed through parliament.

The Malta Employers’ Association and the Malta Chamber said the legislation was being rushed without sufficient discussion with social partners. The chamber also flagged possible overlaps with existing laws and warned that more scrutiny was needed to provide legal clarity and adequate safeguards.

The Malta Insurance Association said the bill differed in important respects from earlier drafts discussed with stakeholders. It warned that equality rules should not prevent insurers from using objective actuarial, statistical and medical evidence to assess risk.

The Chamber of Pharmacists raised concerns about pharmacists’ freedom to practise according to science and conscience.

The Malta Women’s Lobby, meanwhile, warned that absorbing the National Commission for the Promotion of Equality into a broader human rights institution risked weakening the focus on equality between women and men.

Church education bodies said the legislation should safeguard the rights of faith-based schools to retain and promote their religious ethos.

The proposed law would have established the National Commission for Human Rights and Equality, bringing equality and human rights protections under a single institution.

It was the first bill presented by the new administration.

A similar legislative initiative was abandoned after it lapsed at the end of the 2017 legislature. That proposal had also faced objections from several sectors, including church schools concerned about the possible impact on their Catholic ethos.