Robert Attard, EY Malta’s tax leader, spoke at an invitational seminar held by the International Law Association at the European Court of Justice earlier this month. The other speakers were seasoned judges and advocates general at the European Court of Justice.
Attard discussed the paper entitled ‘Human Rights in Taxation’ presented at the seminar by Judge Georges Ravarani of the Grand Chamber European Court of Human Rights.
Advocate General Giovanni Petruzella debated Philip Baker’s paper entitled ‘Technology, data protection and taxation’, and Advocate General Eugene Regan debated Pasquale Pistone’s paper entitled ‘Confiscatory Taxation, international double taxation and property rights’.
In the International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (IBFD)’s 2015-17 General Report on the Protection of Taxpayers’ Rights, Attard was described as a well-known authority broadly experienced in the practical protection of taxpayers’ rights and a prominent member of the legal practice.
Having served as a panellist at the 2015 International Fiscal Association Congress, he forms part of a study group of the International Law Association on the ‘Protection of Taxpayers’ Rights’, chaired by ECJ Advocate General Juliane Kokott. He has also served as a visiting professor at the University of Ferrara and conducted lecturing and speaking visits at several other European universities. Robert’s monograph on the History of Maltese Income Tax Law was published by the Centre for Tax Law of the University of Cambridge.
The Maltese Court of Appeal has described Attard as a leading commentator on tax law referring to his publications in its judgements. He developed a detailed knowledge of tax aspects of the European Convention on Human Rights, drafting submissions in cases filed against France, the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Slovenia and Malta.
He has argued most of Malta’s leading tax cases, including landmark judgments John Geranzi v PM (right to justice within a reasonable time), Zahra v PM (non bis in idem), Farrugia v PM (taxation as a violation of the right to property) and Case 160 of 2012 (tax transparency).
Attard has published extensively on the subject of taxation. His most recent book is Principles of Maltese Income Tax Law 2019 published by the Malta Institute of Management.