The Chamber of Advocates said on Wednesday that it agreed in principle with a reform of the drug laws proposed by the government in a white paper.

It said, however, that it is of the view that the concept of a life sentence for those convicted of trafficking illegal substances should no longer have a place in the laws.

"The time has come for the parties represented in parliament to acknowledge that this punishment is draconian, it no longer exists in democratic countries and it should be removed from the criminal code in Malta," the chamber said.

It said it agreed with the proposal that people accused of trafficking could choose between being tried by jury or by judges. But it felt that illicit substances should be divided into two categories according to their nature.

As for the amount of drugs that would qualify an accused person to be arraigned before the Rehabilitation Board, the Chamber said that there should be a benchmark but not a fixed amount so as to avoid injustices owing to the rigidity of the numbers proposed.