A petition has been filed in Parliament asking for citizens to have access to public services, including the courts, in either of Malta's official languages, English or Maltese.

The petition, started by David Lorenzo Alvarez, requests the House of Representatives to amend or introduce appropriate legislation to ensure that citizens can equally exercise their rights and access to public services, including the Judiciary, in either of the official languages of the Republic of Malta.

"The above is being requested without prejudice of the status of the Maltese language as the National language. Despite Malta's economic growth, accession to the European Union and integration within the International Markets, citizens and investors alike are not always equally treated when exercising their rights, accessing to public services or to the Judiciary if they do not command one of the official languages," the petition reads.

"This situation provokes some cases in which non-English speakers or non-Maltese speakers cannot equally access to public services including the Judiciary or to exercise their rights. It is also seen as an issue by many international investors as there are situations in which they cannot access to the Courts, even when no advocate nor representative is required."

"The Constitutional Mandate that chose the Maltese language as the language of the Courts should not be used as the basis not to update legislation like the 1965's Judicial Proceedings Act (Chapter 189). In fact, legislation of over 50 years ago should be amended and adapted to reflect current Maltese society and economy. The petitioner also believes that art. 5 of the Constitution of Malta allows the Parliament to look for a fairer model, as those already in place worldwide as, for example, in the Republic of Ireland, Luxembourg, Canada, Switzerland or Brussels. These models have in common that exercise of rights or access to public services or Courts are possible in either language, and when that it is not possible translation and/or interpretation is provided."