A Constitutional Court yesterday threw out objections by the pro hunting lobby to halt a referendum on Spring hunting.

The anti-hunting lobby gathered outside the law courts to celebrate the decision and a substantial part of Malta did the same. As things stand, the President will now set a date for the poll, which will be held in conjunction with the local council elections. Given procedure, it will be held between April and June next year.

The anti-hunting lobby claimed the decision as a massive victory - and rightly so - given that successive political parties and governments have washed their hands of the subject. It truly is a sorry state of affairs to be in when both political parties did not have the courage of their convictions. Neither wanted to take a stand on the matter, simply because of the threat of retribution at the polls.

In the end, it was society in general that rose to the task as 40,000 signatures were collected in a petition to finally take the issue to the polls.

Many of those who backed the anti hunting lobby's petition did so because of the simple fact that they do not want to see birds shot out of the sky. But a great many others did because they are sick of their walks being interrupted by rude or aggressive hunters. The countryside in Malta is stunningly beautiful, but the crack of shotguns pierces the air far too often.

For the referendum to be deemed valid, 50% of the population will have to turn out to vote. While the landscape will change, those who want to see hunting banned outnumber those that want to keep it.

Perhaps it is time for the people of Malta to become more active in general and invoke this tool for a more socially just country on other matters.

This newspaper has declared its stance time and time again. And we will take this opportunity to reiterate that this publishing house will be backing the 'Yes' camp. No doubt, the campaign will be an intense one. The pro hunting lobby (not all, of course) have shown time and time again that they are willing to take the law into their own hands. We hope that the authorities will make sure that everyone ' plays fair'.

While this is all in the pipeline, the government must now seriously plan for the future. Assuming that people do vote to see the end of Spring hunting, what are the authorities going to do to ensure that there are enough police officers on the ground to enforce the new law? If not, people will get more involved and will begin to report cases to the police on the spot. The ALE section of the police which deals with cases of illegal hunting needs to be bolstered. They need more men, more equipment and more budget.