Cultural rights have moved from an implicit to an explicit reference point in Maltese cultural policy. While the Constitution of Malta does not name cultural rights as a distinct category, NCP 2021 calls for their inclusion in the Constitutional reform under discussion. In the absence of constitutional codification, cultural rights operate through a combination of fundamental-freedom provisions (Articles 41 and 42 on expression and association), sectoral legislation such as the Cultural Heritage Act (2002, last amended 2024), and Malta’s commitments under international instruments including the UN Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Article 15), the 2005 UNESCO Convention and the 2003 UNESCO Convention on the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ratified in 2017).
Arts Council Malta has built an operational framework around the concept. Strategy 2025 explicitly identified its mission as “driven by cultural rights” and translated this into the Right to Culture resource pack (2022), an Arts Support Scheme – Right to Culture (till 2026) and the 2023 International Cultural Policy Conference on cultural rights co-hosted with the Association of the Compendium of Cultural Policies and Trends. The Culture Pass for schoolchildren and the President’s Award for Creativity extend rights-based reasoning into access and participation policy.In line with Strategy 2030, the rights-based, common good approach is supporting a shift from the conceptual to the practical. There has been a reinforcement of strategic focus on hardly-reached, under-represented and underserved communities.
Several recent reforms have shifted the balance between freedom of expression on the one hand and public-order / moral claims on the other. The decriminalisation of religious vilification in 2016 and the replacement of the censorship board with a non-censoring Film and Stage Age-Classification Board ended pre-publication restrictions in cinema and theatre. The Media and Defamation Act (2018) repealed the Press Act, abolished criminal libel and limited precautionary warrants in defamation cases. In 2023 Parliament unanimously approved the bill strengthening artistic expression, amending the Criminal Code and the Electronic Communications Act to specify that the law shall not hinder artistic, satirical or comic expression and raising the evidentiary threshold for prosecution to a “credible and realistic” threat. These reforms were prompted by cases in which criminal complaints were filed in connection with artistic and satirical expression.
The Constitutional protection of journalism is being addressed separately through the media reform process launched following the public inquiry into the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia. Legal Notice 177 of 2024 transposed Directive (EU) 2024/1069 on Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation. The transposition covers cross-border cases while domestic SLAPP cases which constitute the majority in Malta are not covered by the legal notice, a gap criticised by the Council of Europe Platform to Promote the Protection of Journalism and the Coalition Against SLAPPs in Europe. The Directive’s transposition deadline of 7 May 2026 has passed without extension of protections to domestic cases. International monitors, including ARTICLE 19 and the Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom, have welcomed the direction of reform while noting gaps in implementation and consultation. The European Media Freedom Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/900), the EU’s principal instrument on media pluralism and editorial independence, became fully applicable in August 2025. Malta published implementing measures through Legal Notice 175 of 2025 (see 2.5.3 for detail).
A second strand of debate concerns the right to cultural heritage in the context of construction-led development. Heritage NGOs including Din l-Art Ħelwa and Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar have argued that communities hold a stake in their built environment and have lobbied for stronger planning safeguards. Amendments to the Cultural Heritage Act in 2019 and 2024 reinforced the regulatory role of the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage and recognised underwater cultural heritage. The Public Domain Act (2016) remains largely unimplemented a decade after enactment, according to NGO reporting.
The main actors shaping ethical and rights-related debates are: the Ministry for Arts, Culture and the National Heritage and its Culture Directorate; Arts Council Malta with regard to the CCIs, including professional standards and fair practice, and the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage for heritage matter; the Malta Entertainment Industry and Arts Association (founded 2020) as the principal sector association; heritage and free-expression civil society organisations and NGOs; and academic and media commentary.
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