No doubt, one of the most cumbersome tasks which the government has on its plate is overhauling antiquated laws, some of which contain legal loopholes, and others that are totally outdated.

The problems that arise from such laws are two-fold. There are legal loopholes which one can wriggle through in the Criminal Code, and others which result in unfairness on the citizen in the Civil Code.

Let us take the second of the two. A prime example of this lies in Malta’s rent laws. There has been some progress registered as the government finally set about drafting a White Paper as the calls of social injustice had been long coming.

We will not delve into the specifics of the law, but suffice to say, they had been changed after World War II so as to allow rebuilding and for people to find a home. They were subsequently altered when Malta went further to the left in terms of social housing and the repercussions are still being felt today.

Make no mistake, the repercussions will be felt for some years to come as the government has tried to soften the blow on those who might not yet afford to pay full commercial rates. In other words, it’s a start, but there’s a lot more to be done.

But, to look on the bright side, the fact that such a potentially damaging reform was deemed necessary and the steps were taken to at least begin to the rectify the pre-1995 (when there was a ‘post-dated’ reform) Pandora’s Box.

Interpretation of the law should be left to the courts, and on the whole it is. But one cannot blame the judiciary for passing judgement which seems unjust to anyone with a bit of common sense. This might sound like a contradiction, but it is not. The courts are there to make an interpretation of the laws as stated. They are not there to make up laws and more so, they are not there to simply turn round and say: “This one does not make sense, let me overturn it”. No the change must come at a government administration level and this is no easy task. The issue of noise pollution springs to mind...

The same holds true for the Criminal Code, there are far too many laws which are outdated, some of which have terminology that is alien in today’s day and age.

As mentioned in our weekly paper’s editorial yesterday, the issue of hit-and-run traffic accidents is a case in point. We will again not delve into specifics as a person has been taken to court over the last case and will face justice.

But it is high time that we looked at such issues. We are informed that the government had been working on this issue for some time and people must understand that such things take time to run their course.

Of course, once the news filters through that this is the case, many will say it is a knee-jerk reaction to the recent death of a cyclist. This is another area where government must learn. When something of such importance is being overhauled, then the general public should be told. As it stands, the fact that the government is working on changing the offence to a crime rather than a contravention is positive. That they didn’t inform the public and that it is coming now, in 2009, are two issues which require analysis by the law makers.