The Archbishop of Malta had declared it a mortal sin to print, write, sell, buy, distribute or read a left-wing weekly newspaper, the Voice of Malta. The Maltese Medical and Health Department had followed this up by prohibiting all its 2,660 employees from taking the Voice of Malta into its hospitals and other buildings. The Maltese Constitution provided that: ’13. (1) All persons in Malta shall have full liberty of conscience and enjoy the free exercise of their respective modes of religious worship. . .
14. (1) Except with his own consent, no person shall be hindered in the enjoyment of his freedom of expression, that is to say, freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart ideas and information without interference . . ‘
The Board was asked whether the editor of the Voice of Malta had been hindered in the enjoyment of his freedom of expression.
Held: He had: ‘Though the [editor] was not prevented from imparting ideas and information the inevitable consequence of what was done was that he was ‘hindered’ and that there was ‘interference’ with his freedom.’
The Board rejected a submission that the measure of any resulting hindrance was slight and could be ignored as de minimis, for two reasons: first, ‘the hindrance cannot, on the facts of the case, be classed as minimal’ and: ‘In the second place, their Lordships consider that where ‘fundamental rights and freedoms of the individual’ are being considered a court should be cautious before accepting the view that some particular disregard of them is of minimal account.’
Citations:
[1966] UKPC 6, [1967] AC 115
Links:
Jurisdiction:
Commonwealth
Cited by:
Cited – Commodore Royal Bahamas Defence Force and Others v Laramore PC 8-May-2017
Soldier’s right not to attend religious service
(The Bahamas) Parties challenged the removal of the right of service members to be excused attendance of the religious elements of force parades.
Held: The Muslim petty officer had been hindered in the exercise of his constitutional right to . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Constitutional
Updated: 20 September 2022; Ref: scu.445091
