The 1964 Constitution Is In Fact A

?The 1964 Constitution Is In Fact A Replica Of The 1961 Constitution With Sovereignty Added On.? To What Extent Is This Statement Correct? Essay, Research Paper The Independence Constitution of Malta of 1964 established Malta as a liberal parliamentary democracy. It safeguarded the fundamental human rights of citizens, and promised a separation between the executive, judicial and legislative powers, with regular elections founded on universal suffrage. Malta still had the three organs of the State even before independence. The present constitution was developed through constitutional history and its evolution. The constitutions of Malta fell under three main categories. These were: a) those over which the British possessed total power; b) the intermediate genres of

constitutions (1921-1947), where we had self-government (the 1961 constitution was very similar to these constitutions); c) the Independence Constitution of 1964. On the 27th July 1960 the Secretary of State for the Colonies declared to the House of Commons the wish of Her Majesty?s Government to reinstate representative government in Malta and declare that it was now time to work out a new constitution where elections could be held as soon as it was established. He also notified the House of the appointment of a Constitutional Commission, under the chairmanship of Sir Hilary Blood, to devise thorough constitutional schemes after consultation with representatives of the Maltese people and local interests. The Commissioners presented their report on the 5th day of December 1960.

The report was published on the 8th day of March 1961. That same day, the Secretary of State declared to the House of Commons that Her Majesty?s Government had taken a decision. The Commissioner?s constitutional recommendations to be the basis for the subsequent Malta constitution were to be granted. The 1961 Constitution was also known as the Blood constitution. It was enclosed in the Malta (Constitution) Order in Council 1961 and it was completed on the 24th day of October of that same year. This constitution is found within the publication of the Supplement of the Government Gazette of the 31st October 1961 (No. 11,346). The statement that the Order makes provision for a new constitution where Malta is given self-government is found on the final page of the Order in Council.

The 1961 constitution provided the backbone for our Independence Constitution. A date was provided to guarantee this legal continuity. An indispensable characteristic of this constitution is the substitution of the diarchic system, which was no longer practicable, by system of only one Government, the Government of Malta, with full legislative and executive powers. At that time Malta was still a colony and responsibility for defence and external affairs were referred to Her Majesty?s Government. There was a clear indication that the road towards independence continued and now was at a highly developed stage. The status of independence was nearing. It is imperative to recognise that this constitution established most of the features of the 1964 Constitution. The British recognised

Malta as a State (Section 2: 1961 Constitution) ? ?The State of Malta?. Another important characteristic of this constitution is an innovative introduction of a chapter covering the safeguarding of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms of the Individual which can be located in Articles 5-17 of the 1961 Constitution. This is fairly significant because Fundamental Human Rights are a protection for the individual from the State. In the 1961 Constitution, Fundamental Human Rights and Freedoms are found in Chapter 4. The protection of freedom of movement was introduced only in the 1964 constitution. The declaration of rights of the inhabitants of the island of Malta and Gozo dated 15th June 1802 gives a collective declaration of rights. The 1961 Constitution gave birth to what is recognised