Amending the constitution

I refer to the article ‘Undermining the constitution’ (March 6)

The article may, unintentionally, give the mistaken impression to the uninitiated that the provisions of the constitution may legally be modified or, worse still, stultified by an amendment of the interpretation act, in such manner that changes the reading and meaning of the constitution from what it was prior to the amendment. This would, some would think, do away with the qualified majorities set in the constitution itself for its amendment.

I am sure that the co-authors of the article agree with me that this is not legally possible. The reference in article 124(14) of the constitution to the enactment of an interpretation act must be read in the light of the whole constitution, its fundamental supremacy and the procedure provided for its amendment.

Were one to attempt to make provision in an interpretation act that deprives any person of a right granted to him by the constitution or, in any way, to alter the meaning of its provisions, he would be going beyond the powers granted in article 124(14) of the constitution, which provides for the interpretation and not the misinterpretation of our basic law.

I will not go into the merits of what is being proposed in bill 198. This, I am sure, will eventually be debated before the courts at the appropriate juncture. The fact, however, that the government has previously attempted to achieve the results desired through an amendment of the constitution itself makes one suspect that what is being attempted is not an interpretation of the constitution but its amendment and, hence, not legally achievable in the manner sought.

Anthony Borg Barthet – former attorney general and former judge of the Court of Justice of the European Union, Attard

COVID vaccine

Photo: AFP

On the morning of March 6, I received the appointment to get the COVID vaccine. I nearly had a heart attack when I saw that from Swieqi I had been sent to Cospicua. The people seeing to the logistics must either be crazy, utterly stupid or don’t have an iota of common sense.

How do they expect me to go to Cospicua? I don’t know the place or where the health centre is.

As I suffer from neutropenia, I was waiting to be sent for with the vulnerable and not sent from the north to the south. I can’t drive as I am afraid to navigate the new fly-overs, I can’t risk going on a bus and am very wary of using taxis. I did enquire about going by taxi and I was told that,  at around 3pm, there is a lot of traffic, so it will be more expensive, nearly €25 each way. Who is going to pay? What an expensive vaccine it’s going to be! Is this the respect one should show towards the elderly?

Charmaine Gauci should stop telling us to accept the invitation. If she really means it, she should stay abreast of what is really happening. When I phoned 145 a few  weeks ago, as I had a query, and I quoted Gauci, the person who answered told me she didn’t know what is really happening and I believe him now.

Anna Busuttil – Swieqi

Remote working

I refer to the article ‘Union calls for “fair” remote working’ (March 6).

Surprisingly, the article totally ignored the other side of the coin even if this was available to all media houses, this newspaper included, by Friday late afternoon.

The UĦM’s letter assumed that the principal permanent secretary’s directive, issued on Thursday, was based on instructions that were given a year ago and which relied on teleworking requests being made by public employees. The latest directive was specific. Work which can be done by teleworking should be done in this way.

It does not rely on employees’ requests but directs the heads of departments so that any work which can be done by teleworking should be done in such a way. The rest of the UĦM’s observations in the letter do not deal with the circumstances of last week’s directive.

Indeed, the principal permanent secretary gave guidelines, to all ministries, on how this directive is to be adopted. It is based on administrative direction and is to be implemented in a totally different manner than the one issued a year ago (including where allowances are concerned).

Paul Azzopardi – Director of Information, Valletta

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