Repubblika has condemned the government's recently planned changes to planning laws, labelling them as "tools of impunity" that likely violate fundamental principles of European Union law.

The civil society group issued a statement in which it called the government's proposed planning reforms as "nothing less than another attack against the rule of law, public participation, and the common good."

It said that to its understanding, what has been recently proposed through Bill 143 and Bill 144 in Parliament may violate central principles of EU law, such as the right to an effective remedy, the right to access justice in environmental matters, and the collective obligation to enforce environmental protection standards.

The NGO said that Malta, as a Member State of the European Union, is bound by its Charter of Fundamental Rights, the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive, and the Aarhus Convention. It stated that these important pieces of legislation "guarantee that the public has a say in decisions affecting the environment and legal means to challenge abuse."

"By protecting developers from legal consequences while at the same time restricting public access to justice, the government is likely in breach of its obligations under European law," Repubblika issued.

The NGO declared that it shall be examining all legal and procedural avenues within national and European law to challenge these proposed laws.

Repubblika said that these bills are not reforms, but "tools of impunity, designed behind closed doors, without public consultation, and designed to provide a haven for those who profit from the destruction of our environment."

It has given its full support towards eNGOs and other groups and communities who have already raised awareness on the government's intentions, adding that it is now joining them in this cause.

Repubblika published that "the proposed laws deprive citizens of the right to object to destructive development, curtail the ability of the courts to enforce the law, and give an unfair advantage to developers who engage in illegal activity that destroys our country's landscape."

It added that through this action, the government has sent a clear message: that it will protect those who break the law as long as they have the right friends, to the extent that it will go as far as changing laws to provide such people with shelter.

Condemning this action, it continued that through this "conspiracy," the country is witnessing "a shameless example of state capture, where a group of developers with political connections and who secretly finance the ruling party are allowed to write the laws as they see fit."

The NGO also said that the government has become the brute protecting those few people enriching themselves at the expense of the rest of society, and that it "is no longer the guardian of the public interest."

It said that the Maltese islands are not the property of those who pay to stay out of reach, but rather that Malta belongs to its people, "who have every right to live in a country governed by justice, not favours." Finally, Repubblikka finished that it will not allow local laws, or the country's landscape, or its democracy to be sold off in secret.