Id-Dritt Law Journal
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
� �low journal VOLUME XVI 1991 - LAW JOURNAL VOLUME XVI 1991 Organu ufficjali ta' 1-Gliaqda Studenti Tal-Ligi Official organ of the Law Society - University Of Malta I II ID-DRITT LAW JOURNAL VOLUME XVI 1991 CONTENTS EDITORIAL ....................................................................... ARTICLES .......................................................................... 3 THE EFFECT OF THE MEMBERSHIP OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY UPON THE NATIONAL LEGAL SYSTEMS D. Lasok ............................................................................ 4 THE SWISS EXPERIENCE WITH NEUTRALITY AND ITS RELEVANCE FOR MALTA. Dietrich Kappeler . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 18 THE ROLE OF THE LEGAL PROCURATOR IN THE MALTESE JUDICIAL SYSTEM Paul Saliba . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 35 THE FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT TO PROPERTY: A BRIEF REVIEW IN THE LIGHT OF RECENT DEVELOPMENTS Mark Said .. .. .. .. .. .... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ... .. .. .. 43 MORTMAIN LEGISLATION IN MALTA: THE GENERAL PRINCIPLE Charles J. Scicluna . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 50 EFFECTIVE POLICE/ COMMUNITY RELATIONS ARE THE CORNERSTONE OF THE PREVENTION AND DETECTION OF CRIME Angelo Farrugia .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 62 THE ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION ACT 1991 AND THE RIGHT OF FUTURE GENERATIONS TO A HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT Kevin Aquilina . .. .. ... .. .. .. .. .. .. ... .. .. .. .. .. .. ... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 70 IV NOTES THE ELEMENTS OF THE 'ACTION MANUTENTIONIS: TO WHAT EXTENT IS THIS ACTION AVAILABLE ALSO TO MERE DETENTORS? Paul Debono . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 78 HUMAN RIGHTS RESEARCH UNIT (Malta) Tonio Ellul .. ... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 90 A BRIEF REPORT ON THE INTERNATIONAL COLLOQUIUM ON NEUTRALITY AND NON-ALIGNMENT IN THE POST COLD WAR ERA- MALTA, NOVEMBER 4-8, 1991 Michael A. Tanti .................................................................... 93 SUMMARY OF CASES 1988 CONSTITUTIONAL COURT DECISIONS Compiled by Prof. Ian Refalo ....................................................105 INTERVIEW PROF. RENE CREMONA LL.D. - DEAN OF THE FACULTY OF LAWS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MALTA. Interviews by Christopher Spiteri & Neville Gatt ............................119 V 10-DRITT LAW JOURNAL VOLUME XVI 1991 1990 - 91 BOARD OF EDITORS Editor MICHAEL A. TANT! Associate Editor NIVES SALIBA Marketing Editor JASON AZZOPARDI Fincance Editor CHRISTOPHER SPITER! Members RACHEL GATT FIORELLA CAMILLERI DE MARCO DAVID HARDING NEVILLE FARRUGIA GIIAQDA STUDENT! TAL-LIGI - COMMITTEE 1990 - 91 President CHRISTOPHER SPITER! Vice-President & ALEXANDRA CARUANA Faculty Board Member Secretary JEAN-PIERRE BUSUTTIL Ass. Secretary LUIGI SANSONE International Secretary COLIN SCICLUNA Treasurer MAR TIN TESTAFERRATA MORONI VIANI Faculty Board Member GEORG SAPIANO Publications Officer SYLVAN ZAHRA Public Relation Of.icer FRANCESCO DEPASQUALE Editor of Id-Dritt MICHAEL A. TANTI VI ID-DBITT Law Journal is published by the Gliaqda Studenti Tal-Ligi (Gh.S.L. - Law Society) of the University of Malta, Ta}.:.Qroqq, Msida, MALTA, which is a full member of the ELSA European Law Students' Association. Domestic subscriptions are Lml.50 per year, foreign subscriptions are a) Ordinary at U.S. $ 12 p.a. or b) Student at U.S. $ 8 p.a. (Prices exclusive p. & p.) Periodical exchange agreements and/or exchanged subject to availability. Subscriptions are renewed automatically unless timely notification of cancellation is received fromthe subscriber. Issue receipt is presumedunless notification to the contrary is received within sixty days of the subsequent mailing date. Requests for subscriptions and/or single issues should be addressed to: The Editor ID-DRITT Law Journal Faculty of Law University of Malta Tal-Qroqq MALTA Opinions expressed in ID-DRITT do not necessarily represent the views of the Editorial Board or of the Ghaqda Studenti tal-Ligi. COPYRIGHT:© Ghaqda Studenti tal-Ligi Articles or parts thereof may not be reproduced without the written permission of the Editor and the author concerned. Artwork and Cover Design by Stefan Attard. ID-DRITT Vol. XVI is designed and produced by Michael A. Tanti and J. Caruana. Phototypeset at MICRO PHOTOTYPESETTING. Ltd., Sliema, MALTA. Offsetprinting at PERESSO PRINTING PRESS, Valletta, MALTA. VII EDITORIAL POLICY ID-DRITT Law Journal is an official publication of the Ghaqda Studenti tal-Ligi (Gh.S.L. - Law Students Association - University of Malta) and as such it serves to help fulfil the aims expressed in Article 2 of the Gh.S.L. 's Statute: i. to promote all forms of legal studies. ii. to facilitate the exchange of ideas between local students and their fellow-students abroad. iiL to serve as a link between the Gh.S.L. 's members, the Faculty of Law and the legal professions. ID-DRITT has a dual function: as a Student Law Journal, it provides an outlet for academic research and criticism, considering the implications and problems presented by Law, legal systems, legal theory, judicial decisions etc. As a Law Student Journal, it is the policy of ID-DRITT to encourage the fundamental discussion of issues in legal education and to question received opinion. This is not to say that ID-DRITT has set views on every policy question or that it represents propoganda for a particular point of view. Its attitude to legal education however, is one of enquiry and criticism. It is a further aim of the Journal to provide a forum wherein students from different cournries can exchange ideas and information. This orientation of ID-DRITT Law Journal as an inter-university publication will thus help fulfil a need felt by law students both in Malta and abroad. NOTES FOR CONTRIBUTORS I. Major articles should generally be of between 5,000 and 10,000 wordii. Notes which have the character of signed editorials/short communications are 10 be between 1,000 and 2,500 words long. 2. Articles for ID-DRITT should be soundly based on research, but it is not the practice of ID-DRITT to publish articles which simply report research findings. (This may be condensed into the REPORTS section.) Authors should preferably address themselves to the formulation and solution of problems and to testing these solutions. 3. Articles should carry a statement of between 20 and 30 words outlining their subject matter, together with a short designation of the author. 4. It is assumed that articles for publication have not bee11 published elsewhere. If an article i, being submitted elsewhere simultaneously, the author should say so. Authors who wish rejected manuscripts to be returned, should inform the Editor at the time of submission. 5. Contributions should be typed in double spacing on one side only of A4 paper. References and footnotes should be numbered consecutively throughout articles and typed seperately at. the end of the article. References to books should include the full title and author or authors, publisher and date. References to articles should also include the full name of the journal, the volume and year. Titles of books and journals are italicised or printed in bold print (underlined in typescript). Titles of articles are placed within single inverted commas. 6. All contributions, subscriptions, enquiries, correspondence and books for review should be addressed to: The Editor ID-DRITT Law Journal Faculty of Law University of Malta Tal-Qroqq MALTA 1991 EDITORIAL The complaint voiced in the Editorial Note of Volume XV, by the undersigned that it was proving to be increasingly hard to attract Maltese as well as foreign authors of a certain calibre to contribute to this Law Journal since "all are notoriously busy with their legal profession", has not fallen on deaf ears! Indeed, a very quick glimpse at the Contents reveals that this Edition of ID-DRITT contains a record number of various contributions. This Editorship's goal to include at least one article written by a foreign author who is an authority in his particular field, has been realized once again. In this Edition, one will find an article by Professor D. Lasok, who visited Malta in October 1990. He delivered a public talk, now being published, on "The effect of the membership of the European Community upon the national legal systems". This talk was well attended by students reading law at the Faculty of Laws, University of Malta. Prof. D. Lasok, Emeritus Professor of European Law, University of Exeter is an internationally known authority in the European Legal Studies' field, and his· publications are constantly referred to by students reading European Law. One may also find another article by a foreign author who is currently the Director of the MediterraneanAcademy of Diplomatic Studies at the University of Malta. Professor Dietrich Kappeler' s paper entitled, "The Swiss experience with neutrality and its relevance for Malta'' was presented at the International Colloquium 2 ID-DRITT Law Journal Vol. XVI on Neutrality and Non-Alignment in the Post-Cold Era held in Malta on November 4-8, 1991. In attendance were many authorities from various countries who discussed the concepts of 'Neutrality' and 'Non Alignment' within the framework of the new international scenario as delineated in a Report being published in this Edition. Trying to be innovative in presenting this law journal has proved to be the hallmarkof a successful marketing exercise. Indeed, Volume XIV witnessed the introduction of a section