Owen Bonnici (born 24 May 1980) is a Maltese politician who is currently serving as the Minister for the National Heritage, the Arts and Local Government.

[2] In his role as Minister National Heritage, the Arts and Local Government he is overseeing widespread changes in these areas.

[3] Amongst his achievements, he has recently inaugurated MICAS, Malta’s fist international contemporary museum with a robust investment of 30 million Euros.

[8] As a lawyer in private practice, Bonnici also represented the residents' lobby group for an appeal against the Marsascala recycling plant.

[19] Bonnici was responsible for a number of initiatives undertaken during the legislature, including the Whistleblowers' Act, Justice Reform and the Individual Investors' Program.

A final research report on the impacts of the capital of culture said as follows: Indeed, in the last five to ten years, Valletta enjoyed what may be called a great revival with various restoration projects that brought back life to the architecture of auberges, churches, palazzos, fortifications, and even streets … This urban regeneration of Valletta has also resulted in the sprawl of commercial activity.

Malta Today reported on this: Bonnici described the current situation was a “free-for-all”, adding that the new law would transform the scenario into a more serious one.

[28] Owen Bonnici also presented a legislative proposal in September 2016 that allowed people who were undergoing police interrogation to have a lawyer of their preference.

[29] Owen Bonnici's also pushed forward an initiative that reduced the litigation period over disputed properties by multiple heirs.

In April 2024, he told the European Socialists Summit in Bucharest, Romania that “Europe must be just as steadfast in calling for peace in Gaza as it is about standing up for Ukraine”.

The Constitutional Court stated that Bonnici's orders amounted to a "systematic" censorship that led to an "absurd" and "divisive" situation[37][38] that breached blogger and activist Emmanuel Delia and others' freedom of expression.

[37] Bonnici defended himself by saying that the clearings took place a full year after the horrific murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia, in line with obtaining practice elsewhere in Europe[39] and that the protestors themselves had retracted an action of the issuing of a prohibitory injunction when the monument started being cleared at the day's end, as all other national monuments.