Joseph Flores (1907– 8 March 1974) was a judge and politician from

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

Early life

Flores was born in 1907 in the Maltese town of

Hamrun Hamrun (; ) is a town in the Southern Region of Malta, with a population of 9,244 as of March 2014. The people The townspeople are traditionally known as ''Tas-Sikkina'' (literally meaning 'of the knife' or 'those who carry a knife') or as '' ...

, close to the capital

Valletta Valletta (, mt, il-Belt Valletta, ) is an Local councils of Malta, administrative unit and capital city, capital of Malta. Located on the Malta (island), main island, between Marsamxett Harbour to the west and the Grand Harbour to the east, i ...

. Following school he enrolled at the

University of Malta The University of Malta (, UM, formerly UOM) is a higher education institution in Malta. It offers undergraduate bachelor's degrees, postgraduate master's degrees and postgraduate doctorates. It is a member of the European University Association ...

(the main university on the island) and began a course in the study of

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

. He used this to develop his career in the legal field, finally being appointed as a judge.

Political career

Flores was drawn to the political sphere, but his initial bid to get elected during the 1932 Maltese national elections was unsuccessful. However, he was eventually elected, as a candidate for the

Malta Labour Party The Labour Party ( mt, Partit Laburista, PL), formerly known as the Malta Labour Party ( mt, Partit tal-Ħaddiema, MLP), is one of the two major political parties in Malta, along with the Nationalist Party. It sits on the centre-left of the po ...

, for three successive terms during the 1950s. This period, just before independence from

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

, was one of turmoil for the Maltese left — a split between the MLP and the Maltese Workers Party led to the latter forming a coalition with the Nationalists. From 1949 until 1955, Flores served as Deputy Leader of the MLP in the Assembly. It was not until 1955 that the MLP finally formed the government under the leadership of

Dom Mintoff Dominic Mintoff, ( mt, Duminku Mintoff, ; often called ''il-Perit'', "the Architect"; 6 August 1916 – 20 August 2012) was a Maltese Socialist politician, architect, and civil engineer who was leader of the Labour Party from 1949 to 198 ...

. This legislature came to be dominated by the issue of integration with the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. Such was Flores' position within the dominant Labour grouping that he was appointed the Speaker of the Maltese Legislative Assembly that same year. He was later appointed Judge and thus he resigned as a member of the Legislative Assembly. Flores was also influential in introducing the policy of criminal

probation Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration. In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incarceration), such ...

in Malta. In 1955, he adopted some of the proposals that had been developed by Sir Alexander Paterson, HM Commissioner of Prisons for England and Malta. Paterson had suggested using the social system already in place - in Malta's case the use of the police force and priesthood.

Post political life

Shortly before his retirement he took up a further post as vice-president of the Maltese constitutional court. Flores was gay and it has been suggested that Flores had a relationship with the Maltese editor

Herbert Ganado Herbert Ganado (7 April 1906 – 8 April 1979) was a Maltese people, Maltese lawyer, president of Catholic Action, editor, politician and author. Born in Floriana on 7 April 1906 on the island of Malta, Ganado studied at the Lyceum and University ...

and served as his best man. Chetcuti describes how, "''On the eve of the wedding, Flores dressed up as a woman, and on another occasion, Flores and others put on a

drag show A drag show is a form of entertainment performed by drag artists impersonating men or women. Typically, a drag show involves performers singing or lip-synching to songs while performing a pre-planned pantomime or dancing. There might also be so ...

sending up Queen Victoria''."''Queer Mediterranean Memories'', Joseph Carmel Chetcuti, Australia, 2010 After he retired he taught law again at the

. He died in 1974 and was buried at the cemetery of Santa Maria Addolorata ("Our Lady of Sorrows") in Paola, which is the largest graveyard in Malta.

References

Speakers of the House of Representatives of Malta University of Malta alumni Labour Party (Malta) politicians 1907 births Gay politicians Maltese LGBT politicians 1974 deaths People from Ħamrun 20th-century Maltese politicians 20th-century LGBT people {{Malta-politician-stub

Early life

Political career

Post political life

See also

References