Constitution of Malta
Queen Elizabeth II was sovereign of Malta, and a Governor-General exercised executive authority on her behalf, while the actual direction and control of the government and the nation's affairs were in the hands of the cabinet under the leadership of a Maltese Prime Minister, the leader of the party that wins a majority of parliamentary seats in a general election for the unicameral House of Representatives.The entire territory is divided into thirteen electoral districts each returning five MPs to a total of 65.To date this mechanism, intended to counteract gerrymandering, came into effect twice: for the Sixth and the Eighth Parliaments.[2] It safeguarded the fundamental human rights of citizens, and forced a separation between the executive, judicial and legislative powers, with regular elections based on universal suffrage.At that time Malta was still a colony and responsibility for defence and external affairs were referred to Her Majesty's Government.[6] Another important characteristic of this constitution was an innovative introduction of a chapter covering the safeguarding of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms of the Individual.It consisted of fifty members and they were elected by universal suffrage from ten electoral divisions on the system of proportional representation by the single transferable vote.When in 1964 Malta did in fact become independent, because the Government chose to avoid breaking all ties with the United Kingdom, there was legal continuity of the legislation, as a result of which Parliament remained functional.The Malta Independence Order itself developed into the subject of an entrenchment, since here it is declared that this evolved into an extension to the 1961 Constitution even in the sense of an amendment.[10] On 14 April 2014, the anti-discrimination provision of constitution is amended to include sexual orientation and gender identity.[11] In 2020, following a review by the Council of Europe's Venice Commission, the constitution was amended to reduce the powers of the Prime Minister.
2–4 May 1964Date effectiveSystemUnitaryparliamentaryrepublicBranchesHead of stateChambersUnicameralExecutivePresidentFederalismElectoral collegeFirst legislatureWikisourcePolitics of MaltaMyriam Spiteri DebonoGovernmentPrime MinisterRobert AbelaDeputy Prime MinisterIan BorgCabinetcurrentParliamentSpeakerAngelo FarrugiaDeputy SpeakerDavid AgiusLeader of the OppositionBernard GrechJudiciaryChief JusticeMark ChetcutiCommission for theAdministration of JusticePolitical partiesLabour PartyNationalist PartyPeople's PartyABBA (political party)Volt MaltaelectionsEuropeanAdministrative divisionsRegionsLocal councilsDistrictsForeign relationsMinistry for Foreign Affairs, European Affairs and TradeMinisterDiplomatic missions ofin MaltaPassportVisa requirementsVisa policyMalteseConstitutionGeorge Borg OlivierJ. J. CremonaCommonwealthQueen Elizabeth IIsovereignGovernor-Generalgeneral electionHouse of Representativesexecutive authorityMaltese Presidentministersgovernment departmentsSingle Transferable Votegerrymandering2008 general electionliberalparliamentary democracyfundamentalhuman rightscitizensjudiciallegislativeuniversal suffrageRoman Catholic churchstate religionreligious educationcompulsory educationself governmentSecretary of State for the ColoniesBritish House of CommonsHer Majesty's Governmentrepresentative governmentIain MacleodConstitutional CommissionSir Hilary BloodMaltese peoplediarchicGovernment of Maltacolonyexternal affairsfreedom of movementmembersproportional representationUnited Kingdomsovereigntysexual orientationgender identityVenice CommissionPrince of WalesGrandmaster's PalacePresident of MaltaLGBT rights in MaltaWayback MachinearticlesHistoryTimelineMegalithic TemplesPhoeniciansCarthaginian EmpireRoman RepublicInvasionRoman EmpireByzantine ruleAghlabid invasionByzantine invasionKingdom of SicilyNorman invasionBattle of Malta