Nearly all judgements handed down by the European Court of Human Rights to Malta last year found violations, according to the Council of Europe.    

A new country profile on Malta says that of the 12 Malta-focused judgements delivered by the Strasbourg court in 2018, 11 found that the island had, in some way, breached the European Convention of Human Rights.  

Malta first acknowledged the jurisdiction of the ECHR back in1987, just as the European Convention of Human Rights was transposed to Maltese law. 

The court, an organ of the Council of Europe, serves as the final decision-making body on alleged human rights violations. Its decisions are sought after a citizen exhausts all legal options at home.  

According to the country profile, 33 new cases involving Malta were brought before the ECHR last year. 

This was the highest number of cases ever brought before the court by the Maltese.

Of the 33 cases, 19 were deemed inadmissible and were struck off before court proceedings could begin. 

At present, the profile says, there are 44 pending cases before the court.  

Notable cases

2,000 days for breaching bail

Back in 2010, this case had concerned 63-year-old Lawrence Gatt, of Senglea, who had been in detention for four years for breaking his bail conditions while facing drug trafficking proceedings. He had successfully complained that 2,000 days’ detention for breaching bail conditions was excessive.

Suso Musa vs Malta

This case had concerned a Sierra Leonean asylum seeker who complained that his detention had been unlawful and that he had not had an effective means to have the lawfulness of his detention reviewed.

The court ruled that there had been a violation of his right to liberty and security, as well as his right to have the lawfulness of detention decided speedily by a court. 

Shipyard workers exposed to asbestos 

This case concerned a collective of ship-yard repair workers who were exposed to asbestos for a number of decades from the 1950s to the early 2000s which led to them suffering from asbestos-related conditions. Malta was ordered to pay out €226,000 in compensation. 

Mother stripped of her children

This case concerned the inability of a Ħamrun woman and her children to challenge a care order and the subsequent automatic and permanent removal of the mother’s parental rights following her criminal conviction for neglect. 

The applicants – referred to only as M.D. and her two children, R.D. and A.D. – alleged that they did not have access to court to contest the care order. Malta was ordered to make legal amendments.  

Married but never acknowledged

In this case, a Maltese man of Syrian origin was paid €3,000 in damages by the government after it took the authorities two years to register his marriage to a Russian woman.
 
Transsexual banned from marriage 

Hairdresser Joanne Cassar had taken Malta to Strasbourg when she was banned from marrying after having had a sex-change operation.

Malta eventually reached a settlement agreement with her, after she spent several years fighting for her rights.