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Yesterday, 20th November 2008, the European Commission adopted a Communication on “The European Union and the Arctic Region” which highlights the effects of climate change and human activities in the Arctic. Apart from setting out EU interests and policy objectives, the text proposes a systematic and coordinated response to rapidly emerging challenges. Therefore the Communication is the first step towards an EU Arctic Policy and an important contribution to implementing the Integrated Maritime Policy for the EU.

Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner, responsible for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy, said: “The Arctic is a unique and vulnerable region located in the immediate vicinity of Europe. Its evolution will have significant repercussions on the life of Europeans for generations to come Enhancing the European Union’s contribution to Arctic cooperation will open new perspectives in our relations with the Arctic states. The EU is ready to work with them to increase stability, to enhance Arctic multilateral governance through the existing legal frameworks as well as to keep the right balance between the priority goal of preserving the environment and the need for sustainable use of natural resources including hydrocarbons.”

Joe Borg, Commissioner in charge of the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries added: “We cannot remain impassive in the face of the alarming developments affecting the Arctic climate and, in consequence, the rest of our planet. On the other hand, the combination of the climatic changes and the recent technological developments opens up new opportunities interlaced with challenges. As many EU policies in the areas such as climate change, environment, energy, research, fisheries and transport have a direct impact on the Arctic, a coordinated action is needed and the Integrated Maritime Policy can provide a much needed collaborative platform.”

The Communication emphasises the close link between the European Union and the Arctic. EU policies of wider or global range have a direct bearing for the Arctic. The document provides a comprehensive review of EU interests in all areas of Arctic-related cooperation, and stresses that the developments in the Arctic require an integrated response.

Three main policy objectives are identified:

• Protecting and preserving the Arctic in unison with its population;
• Promoting sustainable use of resources;
• Contributing to enhanced Arctic multilateral governance.

To achieve these objectives, the Commission makes a number of proposals such as the creation of new research infrastructure.

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The European Parliament is discriminating against EU citizens by using software which is not freely available to everyone for its digital services, according to the open source community. But Parliament cited technical and security reasons to justify its decision.

Several free software associations yesterday (21 May) launched a petition calling on the European Parliament to use open standards in order to provide all EU citizens with ”non-discriminatory” access to its representatives and documents ”irrespective of software choices”.

The petitioners explicitly refer to the live web streaming of the European Parliament’s plenary sessions, “which is currently only available to those using Microsoft’s MediaPlayer”. They argue that by using exclusive non-interoperable software, the European Parliament is not allowing all citizens to follow its work and is obliging them to buy software from a single company.

This ”ICT lock-in” is deemed to be ”in conflict with the first article of Chapter 1 in the Treaty of the European Union, which stipulates that ‘decisions are taken with the greatest possible respect for openness and as near as possible to the citizens’,” reads the petition.

A Parliament press source told EurActiv that the use of open source software is avoided by MEPs because it is perceived as less secure against hackers. On the other hand, the technical support provided by the selected software companies is considered highly important to carry out digital services in the 23 official languages used by the Parliament.

The European Commission uses open source software for a range of activities. Linux is used for server operating systems and the external blog platform is based on free programs, like for its wiki service and for the eVoting polls. At the same time, the Commission uses software from Microsoft and Oracle to run other services.

Alongside the petition to the European Parliament, the pro-free software Digital Standards Organisation (Digistan) yesterday (21 May) signed the Hague Declaration , which calls for open standards to be used in all government procurement.

The same day as these initiatives were launched, Microsoft announced that it will improve the interoperability of its flagship Office software suite with open standard formats. The move comes as the European Commission is carrying out an extensive investigation on Microsoft’s alleged abuse of its dominant position in the EU market.

Background

The European Parliament has endorsed EU research on open source software but has never applied it to its digital services. Meanwhile, the Commission uses a range of free software on its blog platform and for other IT activities.

The Commission officially supports the development of open source software. In a recent study commissioned by a UN research centre, the EU executive outlined the economic importance of free programs for European enterprises

See: Euractiv News 22/5/2008 for more information.

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Malta is well known to be a Registry of Choice – providing ship ownership with attractive advantages for registering her ships, while providing the confidence that their vessels will be welcome in other ports, because of the observance of international standards and network of good relations with other states. So far, Malta has been the fifth largest ship registry in the world – an impressive achievement when considering the large availability of registries elsewhere.

Yesterday morning, it was reported that a record 29.5 million tons of shipping have been registered under the Maltese merchant flag, a record since the Maltese shipping register was established in 1973.  It was said that the record, achieved over the past few weeks, was accompanied by another first in that cruise liners are now being registered under the Maltese flag, and that 12 cruise ships currently fly the Maltese flag, including some vessels operated by Royal Caribbean. The outlook looks good, with the industry magazine Fairplay having reported that 210 ships currently under construction will be registered in Malta, adding a further 12.5 million tons to the register.

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By Andrew Spurrier in Paris Thursday 17 January 2008

THE Total oil group has stopped short of announcing an appeal against its condemnation in the Erika trial for causing pollution, indicating only that it intends to make use of the 10 days allowed it to come to a decision. 

It claimed that there were “numerous grounds” for appeal against yesterday’s verdict from the Paris Tribunal de Grande Instance but gave the impression that it might forgo an appeal in an effort to appease French public opinion. 

The oil group is widely seen by the French public as the principal instigator of the pollution disaster provoked by the break-up and sinking of the tanker off the Brittany coast in December, 1999. 

Apart from the €375,000 ($548,000) fine imposed on it by the trial judge for pollution, Total has been ordered to share with classification society Rina, Erika owner Giuseppe Savarese and technical manager Antonio Pollara damages totalling €192m. 

It said afterwards that it was “disappointed” by the judgment, claiming that the court had accepted that the direct cause of the sinking was outside its control. 

Total said it was pleased, however, with the acquittal of shipping manager Bertrand Thouilin, the last employee facing charges, and with the acquittal of Total itself on the charge of recklessly endangering human life. 

It was critical of the trial judge’s finding that it had failed to exercise due caution in its inspection and vetting of the 25-year-old tanker. 

It found it hard to understand how it could be found guilty for shortcomings in a procedure which it had introduced voluntarily to improve its shipping safety standards. 

And it warned that the court’s judgment could have an adverse effect on shipping safety in going against the generally accepted interpretation of international maritime law that charterers cannot be held responsible for the structural state of vessels which carry their cargoes. “By assigning liability to Total,” the oil group said, “the court’s verdict could create confusion concerning the responsibilities of the players and have the contradictory effect of making shipping less safe.” 

The French shipowners’ organisation Armateurs de France congratulated the court on its condemnation of Messrs Savarese and Pollara and Rina but made no mention of Total. 

“The owner, his technical manager and the classification society could not be ignorant of the ship’s grave structural problem and that it was not up to standard,” it said. “In these conditions one can only rejoice at their condemnation. It is exemplary for the improvement of our profession.” 

The organisation expressed reservations, however, about the compensation, and in particular the award for the first time in France of damages for general environmental as opposed to specific property damage. 

Noting that compensation payments had already been made by the International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund, it said that it was not opposed to the payment of additional compensation for environmental damage. 

“But should this notion not be defined in its principle and its modalities by the legislator (at international level) rather than by a court?” 

There were no such reservations on the part of environmental organisations or the local authorities along the 400 km stretch of the French Atlantic coast polluted by the Erika’s heavy fuel oil cargo. 

They generally welcomed the court’s verdict and, in particular, the condemnation of Total. 

The only reservations most of them had were over the size of the damages award which fell a long way short of the €500m-€1bn they had been hoping for. 

“We hope this judgment will become jurisprudence and snowball throughout the world,” said Greenpeace France. 

“International law should be modified to take account of environmental damage. Maritime law, too, should be reformed so that the present system of encouragement of charterers to be irresponsible is rendered impossible.” 

Another environmental defence organisation, Robin des Bois, hailed the outcome as very positive.
“This judgment in first instance renders fragile the strategy of dilution of responsibilities followed by the different players in international maritime transport and should, if it is definitive, encourage them to greater rigour in the choice and operation of ships,” it said. 

But it took a negative view of the level of damages awarded for environmental damage, which it estimated at €1.3m out of the total €192m awarded. 

It said that the negative effects of the pollution on plant, bird and animal life, as well as on the marine food chain and fish stocks, had been underestimated if not forgotten. 

“The sea has been sold off cheap,” it claimed. “It is the sales season.” It also questioned the court president’s affirmation that the effects of pollution from the Erika had lasted two years. It said it had been established that, 20 years after the Exxon Valdez oil spill, several species of birds, shellfish, fish and mammals had still to recover their pre-casualty status. 

As a result, it said, its principal claim that the guilty parties should be ordered to finance the biological monitoring of the effects of pollution from the Erika until 2019 had not been taken into account.

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I distinctly remember being at IMLI just one year ago, preparing a legislative drafting project and my dissertation.

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The Maltese Condominium Act requires that an administrator is appointed for each condominium, in order to represent the interests of all the members of the condominium.  A condominium is a block containing at least 4 units or apartments. Further details may be obtained by downloading the law on the website, http://justice.gov.mt or requesting a copy of the Land Registry’s guidance notes on the Condominium Act from the Land Registry itself.

The law imposes specific rights and duties on the adminsitrator, including legal and judicial representation of the block in lawsuits, and the right to reimbursements made in the interests of the block, and the obligation to issue insurance policies covering the block.

The administrator has to be registered with the Land Registry and this will include a requirement to obtain a map issued by the same in order to indicate precisely the location of the block.

The administrator, in the name of the condominium, may opt to register any rules which the condominium is regulated by.  However the Condominium Act is rather generic and therefore little is required to regulate it other than the law itself.

The services of administrator are provided by this firm. Charges will depend on the work entailed and the condition of the block.  Such services would cover all matters of a general interest in the common part.  Any professional legal services provided over and above this will be negotiated separately.

Disclaimer: Note that this site is not a forum for legal advice. If you have a specific query, kindly make an appointment by calling 9985 8000 or sending an email to geraldine@waldonet.net.mt

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Luckily we have experienced a few changes, one of which has been to abolish the writ of summons (known as citazzjoni) and replace it with a sworn declaration. This means that instead of filing a writ of summons and a sworn declaration, one just files the sworn declaration, which is a consolidation of both documents. This should simplify and speed up the filing of civil cases, making it less onerous for the plaintiff.

Another recent change has been to add a new type of judicial letter, one which intimates the recipient that if he does not reply to the letter within thirty days, the letter becomes executive title. This means that the person who filed it can proceed to file executive warrants and recover the amounts claimed. Caution must be exercised when handling these letters, and a person is well advised to contact his lawyer upon receipt of such a lawyer.

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Data Protection law was introduced some time ago in Malta – rather recently, and very much in line with the EU Frameworks. Malta is not party to the European Convention on data protection, however it does adhere to the principles enshrined in the EU framework, both generically as well as in the field relating to telecoms.

Although this has always been an important right of the individual, data protection is now even more important in the light of the ease with which data is processed in today’s technological world.

A customer would be well-advised to ensure compliance with data protection rules when processing data relating to persons.

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The Electronic Commerce Act of  2001,  is based on the E-Commerce Directive of the EU. It regulates in some detail the validity of  electronic contracts and transactions.  It also provides for rules on the transmission of  electronic  communications, provision of  signature certification, as to the time and place when the electronic  communication is deemed to have been dispatched and received.  This law is administered by the Malta Communications Authority and has constituted important developments governing sales over the Internet in Malta.

The Electronic Commerce Act regulates also the liability of  intermediary  service providers – mere conduiting, caching and hosting would fall under different rules than thos applying to the actual service provider or content provider.

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