The full executive list is as follows:

President: Andrew Sciberras
Vice-President: Katrina Borg Ferrando
Secretary General: Giuseppe Gatt
Financial Officer: Cristina Schembri
Public Relations Officer: Marelaine Formosa
Academic Officer: Philip Gatt
International Officer: Alessia Bonanno
Legal Aid Officer: Kimberly Axisa
Leisure Officer: Michael Gatt
Marketing Officer: Hayley Borg
Moot Court Officer: Laura Chetcuti Dimech
Policy Officer: Andrew Drago
Publications Officer: David Chetcuti Dimech
Resources Officer: Michaela Giorgio

Presidential Comment

I’m honoured to have been given the opportunity to lead this team of exceptional men and women who all wish to help law students in one way or another. I’m more than excited to see what the next year has to offer, and to see what ideas everyone has. I’d like to everyone who has shown support along the way, as without it I might not have arrived as where I am today.

The Third Eye wishes the new executive a fruitful year ahead!

The post Andrew Sciberras to lead GHSL for 2022\23 appeared first on The Third Eye.

The new members of GħSL’s team are as follows:

President: Martina Cassar

Vice President: Sarah Mifsud

Secretary General: Andrew Sciberras

Financial Officer: Danielle Gauci

Public Relations Officer: Kezia Mallia

Director of Committees: Andrew Formosa

Fresh face and Current President of GħSL, Martina Cassar, shared some words regarding the election:

Last year was a very challenging year for us at GħSL and I think this year is not going to be too different in respect of the Covid-19 pandemic. This being said, I am determined to do my absolute best to preserve GħSL’s reputation as being the organisation by law students for law students. Despite not being with students on campus, our door is always open for students to assist them in their academic journey, and hopefully in their social experience at university at well. I am ready to roll up my sleeves and get to work together with the rest of the team.

Martina Cassar, Current GħSL President

Former President, Matthew Charles Zammit also shared his remarks with The Third Eye:

I’m thankful yet nostalgic for the conclusion of this term, and the end of my GħSL experience. I thank my colleagues (Valentina, Maya, Diane, Martina, Sarah, Graziella, Kezia, Giuliana, Karl, Andrew, Alec, Matthew, Andrew, Danielle and Katrina) for a memorable year together. Finally, I wish all the best for Martina, Sarah, the Andrews, Kezia, Danielle and the rest of the new team for the upcoming year ahead. Ad multos annos GħSL!”

Matthew Charles Zammit, Former GħSL President

The Third Eye wishes the newly elected Executive Board the best of luck for the upcoming year!

The post Martina Cassar to lead GħSL for 21/22 appeared first on The Third Eye.

After seeking direction from the Registrar, Dr. Mifsud, Dean of the Faculty of Laws, has informed law student organisations on Monday, that study unit coordinators will start uploading past papers for free through VLE. This arrangement was brought forward after some questions were raised by fourth-year law students, arguing that this material should be provided for free. 

European Law Student Association (ELSA) released a statement on Monday declaring its position on this matter stating that they “strongly believe that students should not have to pay for past papers”.

Other Faculties within The University of Malta have been offering past papers to their students free of charge for a number of years, and we believe that law students are completely entitled to the same commodities and services.⁣

ELSA Malta

On Monday through an Instagram account, ‘lawsofmalta’, reacted positively to this arrangement. 

In their statement shared through Facebook, ELSA Malta explained that according to the communication received from the Faculty of Laws, past papers will be shared ‘starting from 2017, as long as the study unit coordinator agrees with such past papers being disseminated.’ 

In light of this decision, the organisation took matters into their own hands stating that ‘the problem has only been partially solved as it is still unclear whether past papers preceding 2017 can or cannot be sold’. ELSA invited students to send past examination papers dating back before 2017 through email, which will be compiled and then shared with students who will access them for free. 

Għaqda Studenti Tal-Liġi (GħSL) the student organisation in question, who previously took care of selling  past papers to students also released a statement on Tuesday, clarifying its position and explaining that; ‘the reason behind the purchase of past papers stemmed from a normative agreement which started as a collaboration between the Organization near its genesis and the Faculty.’ 

The organisation thanked ‘all those who have brought this issue to light, and who have pushed GħSL to collaborate with Faculty on a new agreement which is more suitable and reflective of students’ needs’. 

It is for this reason that the Organization would like to announce that it has heard the students’ wishes, and hence strongly agrees that past papers prior to 2017, which will not be under the care of Faculty as recently agreed, are to be distributed for free.

GħSL

Both GħSL and ELSA are on par with the fact that past papers prior to 2017, are to be distributed for free by the Faculty of Laws. 

This is an update to our prior article.

The post UPDATE: Past papers will now be provided for free to law students appeared first on The Third Eye.

A number of issues were raised by law students during the month of March 2021, stating that GħSL should not be charging students for providing them with past papers since they’re given to the organisation by the faculty free of charge. The Third Eye has been in contact with all the affected parties. 

Għaqda Studenti Tal-Liġi (GħSL), is a faculty-based non-profit organisation at the University of Malta representing law students. The organisation is currently in the process of updating its website which led them to move all law material on ‘ISSUU’, an online platform tailored for PDF viewing. 

With this change, the students noticed that the material provided on this platform cannot be downloaded nor printed, but only viewed within the website itself. Students argued that once the material is purchased it should be at their discretion, which raises the question; Why wouldn’t GħSL want the content to be downloaded?

According to GħSL, the reason is to prevent the circulation of this material amongst students. GħSL also said that printed copies are available upon request. Students expressed that once this material is purchased, it should be downloaded and printed by the users as they wish. 

Law students felt that this matter is not being rightly tackled by the GħSL executive, and decided to voice their concerns through an Instagram account;  ‘lawsofmalta’. Through the multiple Instagram stories published, they stated that Matthew Charles Zammit, current GħSL President has been ensuring students that there is a formal agreement between the organisation and the faculty on this matter.

Furthermore, certain students voiced their concern on the fact that certain past papers are not even legible and that the editing mentioned by the organisation only included the removal of scribbling from the papers and making them more readable, as shown on the Laws of Malta account.

When contacted by The Third Eye, the GħSL executive stated that ‘”the Faculty of Laws provides GħSL with a set of past papers of the previous period, ensuring that we continuously update our incumbent packs’ and that the income generated goes ‘solely for the upkeep and maintenance of the notes system, and a new website“. Furthermore, they stated that all this is “done with the direction and knowledge of the Faculty of Laws“. 

As it stands, Dr. Ivan Mifsud, Dean of the Faculty of Laws said exclusively to The Third Eye, that although he is not aware of any formal agreement between GħSL and the Faculty, the organisation has been selling past papers for many years. Dr. Mifsud even said that it seems that any agreement or arrangement dates back to many years. 

“It is a valid point in the sense that anybody has the right to raise such issues, so I have sought advice from Central UM Administration on how other Faculties go about this, and what are our obligations towards students, where past papers are concerned.”

Dr. Mifsud, Dean of Faculty of Laws

As it stands the process of distributing the past papers remains the same to this day. GħSL are selling the past papers on the website ISSUU for law students of all years. This situation is still ongoing and being discussed between the faculty, GħSL and the students. 

The post Law students seek clarification on past paper fees imposed by GħSL appeared first on The Third Eye.

GħSL have just elected their new Executive Team today after holding an online AGM, similar to most other student organisations in need of changing their executive for the following term.

Five Administrative Executive Members were confirmed for the new team, with Matthew Charles Zammit leading the team as President. The full list of roles so far is as follows.

• President: Matthew Charles Zammit
• Vice-President: Valentina Cassar
• Secretary General: Maya Spiteri Dalli
• Public Relations Officer: Martina Cassar
• Financial Officer: Diane Cutajar
• Director of Committees: Sarah Mifsud

The rest of the roles were confirmed this Saturday after all nominations were received.

• Academic Officer – Graziella Schembri
• Exchanges Officer – Giuliana Magro Conti
• External Relations Officer – Andrew Formosa
• International Officer – Karl Micallef
• Events Officer – Kezia Mallia
• Leisure Officer – Matthew Mamo
• Marketing Officer – Alec Sladden
• Policy Officer – Andrew Sciberras
• Publications Officer – Danielle Gauci
• Resources Officer – Katrina Borg Ferrando

The Third Eye got in touch with the newly-elected and got a comment from Zammit, Cassar and Spiteri Dalli looking forward to the new term.

They thanked the past Executive for their hard work, friendship and support and expressed their excitement for the changes to take place in the coming term.

The changes that we brought forward during the Annual General Meeting are not only an expression of change, but also a belief in this organisation’s core values, the strength of its history, as well as its resilience in these most difficult of times.

“This is a fresh start,” they said, “an opportunity for us to re-evaluate what GħSL has done during the previous months and years, and examine ways in which it could go further than before.” They welcomed constructive feedback from fellow students, alumni and academics, even during these pressing times, so that the organisation can continue improving.

GħSL has never shied from being vocal on issues pertaining to law students. In such unstable times, it’s very difficult to predict what’s going to happen. And as such, it’s only if law students speak up with us that we are able to truly represent them to the best of our abilities.

The post Matthew Charles Zammit to lead GħSL team for 20/21 appeared first on The Third Eye.

The law students organisations have all released statements regarding the June Examination Sessions. The Third Eye is informed that students are facing a possibility of a number of take-home exams with little to no assignments.

In their press release, GħSL mentions how the faculty seems to have decided that take-home exams will be the method of assessment in the June exams. A decision that has been opposed by all 3 student organisations representing law students.

The organisation goes on to say how students received no justification with regard to this decision when all organisations have lobbied assignments as their method of assessment after having consulted with the students themselves.

Furthermore in their statement, they recounted how “…a group of student representatives were meant to vote on the matter together with the Dean and the Heads of Departments. However, they were unexpectedly stripped from their voting rights…”

They emphasise how they have not received adequate online lectures and despite this, they are still being forced to sit for exams as if nothing has happened except a change of venue.

The student society calls on the Dean saying that he’s treating this situation with two weights and two measures when it was the Dean himself that told the students he is raising the bar for students because the law course is not the default course to apply to.

Now the students seek to hold him accountable to practice what he himself preaches as the faculty continues to fall short from providing students with necessary resources.

On the other hand, ELSA highlighted a number of issues which need clarification in order to ensure a fair examination process.

Amongst the list of issues, the structure of examination was mentioned where the organisation states that the faculty must tell the students what is expected of them during the time allotted.

GħSL mentions how students are already suffering as they are not able to access the University library to conduct research. This whilst ELSA emphasises they now have to deal with exams in an environment which some might consider a haven, but some might consider it as the devil’s den.

It is important to note that various students have pointed out how difficult it is for them to find a few moments of peace within their homes to sit for an exam. It also does take into consideration those who might live in an abusive environment.

ELSA continues on demanding that a list of topics which are examinable must be provided beforehand. This ties with the lack of online lectures some students are experiencing and thus it would be unfair to test on material which was in no way covered during lectures. On this very same point, the organisation asks whether more lectures and tutorials will be added to the schedule to make sure that the syllabus is covered.

It is essential to note that the student organisations as well as the students are not completely against the notion of take-home exams but they are quite frustrated with the lack of balance, clarity and communication surrounding the examinations which might take place in less than 6 weeks.

The Junior Chamber of Advocates believe that although it is ultimately up to the faculty to decide, they must make a decision which will not have a huge impact on the students and their studies. They urged the faculty to give clear guidance on this situation at hand.

ELSA Malta state that till now, students have been presented with the bare minimum and that merely knowing the method of assessment is not enough and thus this information must be immediately communicated with the students who are currently very stressed with the situation.

Also, student organisation GħSL stated that they have presented a detailed report to the faculty on how different methods of assessment can be adopted in order to create a balance.

A balance that actually assesses the students’ abilities but also a balance that provides a level playing field for all.

The post Law students frustrated with Faculty’s decision to impose take-home exams appeared first on The Third Eye.

• President – Celine Cuschieri Debono
• Vice-President – Emma Sammut
• Secretary General – Marc Dimech
• Public Relations Officer – Matthew Charles Zammit

The Third Eye contacted Cuschieri Debono for her to give a statement having been confirmed as the new GħSL President for the coming term.

I am elated to be GħSL – Malta Law Students’ Society’s President for the upcoming term. I look forward to building on the success that GħSL has achieved throughout the years. This would not have been possible without the support of the GħSL current executive and the previous leaders of this organisation who have set a stellar example. I am humbled to be given this opportunity to lead an organisation which has grown so much and which has become an integral part of my university life.

In a Facebook post, GħSL confirmed that the rest of the positions are still vacant and applications for nominations will remain open until noon tomorrow 30th April 2019. If there are enough nominations to hold an election, this will be held on May 2nd 2019 from 10:00 to 16:00 at the GħSL Office.

Any nominations can be sent via email to secgen@ghsl.org.

The post Celine Cuschieri Debono is GħSL’s President for 2019/20 appeared first on The Third Eye.

The event featured six speeches by professionals and academics present regarding their respective fields as well as a panel discussion that followed on the ever-dynamic world of FinTECH. Those present were offered free physical copies of the journal. The journal will be launched as an e-book to be accessed online in the summer.

The launch opened with GħSL’s Publications Officer Emma Marie Sammut. She explained to those present that Id-Dritt is a collaboration between Law professionals in conjunction with academics sharing their expertise from their respective fields. The main intentions behind the journal is to allow students to get the information they need for their research from the best of the best in the field. The journal features chapters on the newest fields in law.The journal is ultimately aimed to give a cohesive view on all the developments occurring in the area of law.

GħSL President Lara Attard extended her appreciation to all those involved in the creation of Id-Dritt. “This publication does not only represent tradition,” Attard said, “but also the organisation’s values and appreciation towards the student body.” She continued that the journal will also be available in the form of an eBook for those who desire to read it on the go.

Professionals that attended the event and spoke were amongst the most respected in their respective areas and included: Judge Emeritus Dr. Giovanni Bonello, Dr. Consuelo Scerri Herrera, Dr. Tonio Borg, Dr. Ariane Aquilina, Dr. Robert Musumeci and Dr. Robert Dingli. The crux of their speeches was essentially regarding what they contributed towards the journal respectively.

The debate followed after the commentaries which focused on FinTECH, particularly the crypto-assets in terms of distributed ledger technology.

The panellists started off by saying that the full scope of the area was never really regulated as the law has been the same since day one. Lawyers have identified a sub-set of the assets and the regulation that has been created is specifically meant to target this.

Another sub-set is that of virtual tokens and this was a main point that was mentioned throughout. They go on to note that these virtual tokens have yet to be regulated under Maltese law. There can be no form of exchange whatsoever of these virtual tokens and since there is no secondary market, legislators have avoided regulating them. More on FinTECH can be found in Id-Dritt.

The panellists praised MFSA for the work it has been doing towards regulating this new branch of law – work which was beyond what was expected of them. Regardless, the panellists persisted that there is always room for improvement. Seeing that this is a new area, they continued that it is expected that regulations take more time to be made. It was concluded that despite the work having been done, there are still a lot of loop holes and as a result the topic of FinTECH will remain in the talks in the near future.

The post GħSL Successfully Launch The 29th Edition of ‘Id-Dritt’ Journal appeared first on The Third Eye.

Calling all law students! For the second year running, GħSL is giving you the opportunity to participate in the JESSUP International Law Moot Court Competition in Washington DC this April 2019!

The 2018 – 2019 version of Jessup will be the 60th edition of the annual Moot Court Competition. The Competition is based on a simulation of a fictional dispute between countries before the International Court of Justice; the judicial organ of the United Nations.

To all the motivated law students, this is an opportunity of a lifetime not to be missed!

The best 2 teams of 2 will be chosen to represent Malta in the International rounds, from a local moot court competition. The local rounds will be organised by GħSL and will take place from the 14^th to the 15^th of November 2018.

The 2019 International Rounds will take place between 31st March – 6th April 2019 and will conclude with the Jessup Cup World Championship Round. The Competition itself spans over an entire week and the sessions will include competitive matches, panel discussions as well as social events.

Last year was Malta’s first ever participation and the results were quite satisfactory. Although we did not place within the topmost countries, we managed to overcome other relatively established universities, such as the University of California, Berkeley.

The students representing Malta had a huge load of work to do in comparison to other universities as it was disproportionate to their team size.

They had to collectively draft and submit more than 24,000 words, as well as just under one hour of verbal submissions. This year, funds permitting, GħSL would like to nominate two groups of two students each; one group representing the applicant, and the other for the defendant. In this way, each group will be able to focus on one aspect of the case, and in this way allow more time to focus, develop solid argumentation, as well as lessen the stress on the participants.

There was also the lack of a professional lawyer as a mentor/tutor for the whole group from Malta in comparison with other universities.

Should funds permit, this year GħSL will attempt to contact and offer a lawyer, specialising in International Law, to join GħSL in Washington to assist the teams throughout the competition.

Take the opportunity. Represent Malta. Make University of Malta proud. Let the moot courts begin!

The post Suit Up! We’re going to Washington | GħSL appeared first on The Third Eye.