Announcements

Academy Documents

Please access the Students' Policies & Forms through this link. The following documents are all available in the link - Student Handbook, Student Code of Conduct,  Students' Privacy Notice, Deferral, Suspension, and Cancellation Policy, Assignment Extension Policy, Re-Sit Policy, Complaints Procedure Policy, Equality Policy and Student Disciplinary Policy.

Online Sessions Link

To connect to the online sessions of this module please click on this link. You will be asked to register your attendance if you are not already signed in into your Zoom account. You will also be asked for the password which is below.

Meeting ID: 825 2136 2654
Passcode: 468355

Make sure that you show with your name & surname as you have been registered for the study programme. This is very important for attendance purposes.

Lecture Schedule & Notes

Lecture notes will be available during the week following the respective lecture. Schedule dates are indicative and may change. All changes, if any, may be communicated via email, SMS or telephone calls.

Lecturer/s  

Dr. Antonio Depasquale

Lecture Summaries & Suggested Reading 

Lecture 1 - Introduction to the Maltese Legal System

• Introduction to the whole Course
• Introduction to the Module and topics to be covered
• Self assessment.
• What is law and why do societies develop law
• Who has the right to enact laws? From where does this right emanate?
• Different Legal Systems (Civil vs Common)
• Historical influences on the Maltese law system
• Apart from getting a better idea of what the module will cover, participants will start developing the notion of what is law, from where does the State gets their authority to legislate, the checks and balances in order to control the State.
• Participants will also get an idea of how the Maltese legal system developed into what it is today.

Core Reading List

• Attard, D., 2012. The Maltese Legal System Vol I

Supplementary Reading List

• Aquilina, Kevin., 2011. ‘Rethinking Maltese Legal Hybridity: A Chimeric Illusion or Healthy Grafted European Law Mixture’ Journal of Civil Law Studies, Vol 4 no. 2 P. 261

Lecture 2 - Sources of Maltese Law & the Legislative Process

• Recap of Lecture 1
• Introduce the different laws (Constitution, Acts, Subsidiary legislation, Bye Laws, Regulations, Directives, Learned works, Customs)
• Legislative Process
• The use of Subsidiary Legislation
• Judicial Interpretation
• Using Justice Web site & Parliament website
• Legal jargon (Chapter, Legal Notice, article, regulation, marginal notes, rationale, promulgation date....)
• Introduce the Constitution

Core Reading List

• Attard, D., 2012. The Maltese Legal System Vol I

Supplementary Reading List

• Borg, T., (2016). A Commentary on the Constitution of Malta
• Cremona, J J,, (1997). The Maltese Constitution and Constitution History since 1813

Lecture 3 - The Constitution

• Recap of Lecture 2
• The Constitution of Malta (Historical perspective, Importance, Main provisions of the Constitution – the Judiciary, human rights, the president, Parliament, the Executive, AG/SA, Commission for the Administration of Justice).
• Rule of Law
• Separation of Powers
• Introduce the Courts of Malta

Core Reading List

• Borg, T., (2016). A Commentary on the Constitution of Malta
• Cremona, J J,, (1997). The Maltese Constitution and Constitution History since 1813

Lecture 4 - The Courts of Malta

• Recap of previous lecture
• The Different Courts dealing with Civil matters in Malta (Constitutional, Appeals, Civil, Commercial, Family, Voluntary Jurisdiction, Magistrates, Tribunals)
• Criminal Court (Court of Magistrates, Criminal Court, Court of Appeal).
• Jurisdiction of these different Courts
• Composition of the Courts

Core Reading List

• Attard, D., 2012. The Maltese Legal System Vol I

Lecture 5 - The Legal Profession

• Recep of the previous lecture
• Introduce the various legal professions (lawyer, notary, legal procurator, Judiciary, Registrar and Deputy Registrars, Commission for the administration for Justice, Ministry for Justice, State Advocate, Attorney General)
• Discuss Assignment titles
• Self Assessment

Core Reading List

• Attard, D., 2012. The Maltese Legal System Vol I

Methods of Assessment

Self Assessment 20% of final score - Students will be expected to sit for a multiple choice test during the module's first lecture on 2 October 2023. Students will be handed out with the test sheet and their answers during an additional 30-minute session, which will be held on a date and time communicated during the first session, and will be asked to correct their own submission.

1 Assignment 80% of final score

Assignment

You have to choose 1 out of the 3 questions which are available in the Assignment Submission form below. Assignment should be submitted by not later than Thursday 25 January 2024. The assignment has to be submitted together with the Assignment Submission Form. Please indicate the questions which you have addressed in the Assignment Submission form.

Assignment Submission Form

If you need information on how to plan, draft and submit your assignment follow the 21 Academy presentation on Writing and Submitting your Assignment.

We are also making the 21 Academy's Assignments Rubric available for your guidance. This is a performance-based assessment tool. Tutors will use the rubric to assist them to allocate scoring while it allows students to understand what is required in the assignment and how it will be graded. For referencing purposes, as much as possible please use the Oscola Referencing Guide.

Submitting Assignment - Turnitin

The Academy will notify you that assignment questions are available through an email. Through another email sent to you by Turnitin (probably on the same day) you will be notified that you have been added to a "class" where you may upload your assignment/s. Assignments should be submitted by not later than 23:59hrs of the assignment submission deadline shown on the Assignment Submission form and/or the "class".

At 21 Academy you can submit more than one draft of your assignment before the submission final deadline. The last version left uploaded at the submission deadline will be considered to be your final submission paper and will be the one which will be assessed. Make sure that your final submission does not go beyond 20% similarity when including direct quotations (the sentences in-between quotes).

Follow this very short video to understand how to submit your assignment through Turnitin - submitting a paper

To understand the similarity report generated by Turnitin follow this 1 minute video - understanding the similarity report

Referencing Style

Oscola Referencing Guide

Upcoming related courses...