Professor Kevin Aquilina
Although the Constitution of Malta does not expressly refer to the doctrine of the rule of law, it is embedded within it. The rule or supremacy of law in its present formulation gained currency through the work of Albert Venn Dicey’s An Introduction to the Study of the Law of the Constitution.
Joseph Raz holds that the rule of law in its contemporary formulation means that ‘people should obey the law and be ruled by it’. But, more specifically, it means that the government is ruled by the law and is subject to it.
Considering Malta, it is clear that a constitutional tenant is that the rule of law is fundamental to the governance of the state and that the rule of law can be implied from a reading of the Constitution’s provisions, not because the Constitution, by express words, states so but because this can be deduced by necessary intendment. For instance, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council has held, with regard to similar Westminster Constitutions like the Maltese, that Westminster Constitutions are based on the rule of law.
Kevin Aquilina is the Dean of the Faculty of Laws at the University of Malta where he is also Head of the Department of Media, Communications and Technology Law. He holds a doctorate of philosophy in law (Ph.D.) from the London School of Economics and Political Science of the University of London, a doctorate in law from the University of Malta (LL.D.) and a Masters in International Maritime Law from the International Maritime Organization’s International Maritime Law Institute (LL.M.).
He currently lectures on the Maltese Legal System at the Faculty of Laws of the University of Malta.
Professor Aquilina has held the office of Director General Courts and subsequently Chief Executive of the Maltese audiovisual broadcasting regulator – the Broadcasting Authority – for over ten years and has drafted all broadcasting legislation between 1999 to 2013.
He attended several conferences abroad related to broadcasting and presented also papers at such conferences including those organised by the European Platform of Regulatory Authorities (EPRA), the Mediterranean Network of Regulatory Authority (MNRA) and the International Association of IT Lawyers.
He also served as Chairman of the Press Ethics Commission – the self-regulatory media body which hears and decides complaints against journalists.
In the realm of Administrative Law, Professor Aquilina served for eleven years as Chairman of the Planning Appeals Board, and subsequently as Legal Advisor to the Planning Appeals Board and Member of the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal.
Professor Aquilina has authored various books, written several reports for Maltese and foreign institutions, drafted many primary and subsidiary laws and has published papers in edited books and articles in peer reviewed journals apart from various contributions to the print, broadcasting and new media.