Prime Minister Joseph Muscat today said it is up to the court to decide whether the referendum on the abolition of spring hunting will go ahead, when asked to give a guarantee that the referendum will be held next year.

"That is not something that the Prime Minister decides. This is something that is in our Constitution, now it is up to the court, and it is the court that decides, I am not the one who decides these things," Dr Muscat said.

The Electoral Commission has verified the signatures collected by the anti-spring hunting coalition and passed on the petition to the Constitutional Court.

The Constitutional Court will officially request a referendum once the three-month period in which objections can be filed is over. If no objections are upheld by the court, the referendum is expected to be held in March 2015.

The country's three independent newspapers are joining forces by adopting a single, unified stance against the practice of spring hunting and in favour of the upcoming referendum seeking to put an end to the ecologically unsustainable practice in Malta once and for all.

On Sunday, The Malta Independent on Sunday, The Sunday Times of Malta and MaltaToday all announced an unprecedented step of adopting a joint stance in favour of next spring's referendum.

The three media houses will be leveraging their collective pressure to urge the government to ensure that the referendum on the spring hunting season will be held next spring as projected, and in the full spirit of democracy after 41,500 members of the electorate signed a petition for the holding of a referendum to abolish spring huntingcirculated by the Coalition Against Spring Hunting.

The three media houses will also be urging the electorate to participate actively in the vote when the day comes.