Book review: Maltese constitution and rule of law: a book of firsts

Constitutional and Human Rights Law

by David Attard

published by Malta University Press

The Maltese Legal System, Volume II, Part A, entitled Constitutional and Human Rights Law, penned by Prof. David Attard, chancellor of our alma mater and judge of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, is an important book for law students, lawyers, judiciary, and the public interested in constitutional law and human rights law.

It deals with the characteristics of the Maltese constitution, the constitutional doctrines of the separation of powers, the rule of law, and the supremacy of the constitution over parliament.

First, it discusses the constitutional development of Malta until it finally attained the status of an independent state together with the authority of the Maltese constitution.

Noteworthy is that Attard develops a very novel and original theory based on Public International Law that it was the “right to independence and self-determination – and not the Act of the United Kingdom Parliament – that was the fundamental basis for Maltese independence”.

This is the very first time that I came across such an innovative and groundbreaking theory that has been advocated. But...