Mur Lura
SPEECH BY THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT, DR. AUSTIN GATT, DURING THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE CONFERENCE FOR JUSTICE MINISTERS IN MOSCOW
pr1434
04/10/2001
04/10/2001
Mr. Chairman,
| I would like to thank you for the professional way in | which you have organised this conference and for hosting us in this beautiful city of Moscow. |
| A few days before the Conference, Malta wrote to the | Director General of the Legal Affairs Committee of the Council of Europe proposing a draft resolution for this Conference – a resolution that mainly concentrated on the need to combat the financing of international terrorism. On being made aware of the German resolution we immediately withdrew our proposal in recognition of the fact that the resolution prepared by our German colleague is much more comprehensive. |
| We fully support this Resolution – even as now | amended – and I would like to thank my German colleague for managing to include in it all the salient points we need to concentrate on. |
| Mr. Chairman, terrorist attacks of the magnitude of | those of the 11th September require great financial resources and access to world-wide banking systems to shift those resources and place them at the right place and at the right time. It is imperative that no state allows its systems to be utilized for these purposes. |
| Banking confidentiality in Malta has never covered | criminal acts of terrorism or money laundering and Malta has always co-operated with other States or State authorities in any investigation on terrorism or money laundering whether there was an agreement covering such co-operation or simply on the basis of comity. |
| However, no matter how well-equipped we each may be, | I believe that on an international level there is still much that needs to be done to ensure the timely exchange of information and analysis, and problems in these areas seem to be endemic. These problems will only be solved if the political declarations and commitments that we make are followed by effective administrative instruments that deliver on a day-to-day basis. |
| Our citizens expect us to fight terrorism. Our | citizens, however, also expect us to guarantee their fundamental human rights – principles which this Assembly has upheld at all times, in all countries and under all circumstances. Security and freedom are not mutually exclusive – they have never been and never will be. In fact, the very essence of being a true democracy is finding the right balance between the two, a balance that may shift according to circumstances but a balance that will always remain. |
Thank you.
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