Abuse of office by public officials should be a crime - Standards Commissioner
Report recalls abusive engagement of tourism minister's girlfriend as a consultant for two ministries
Abuse of office by persons holding state office should be made a criminal offence, the Commissioner for Standards in Public Life said on Wednesday, backing calls to this effect made by the Daphne Caruana Galizia public inquiry.
Commenting in his annual report, in the context of the engagement by (then) Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo and Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri of the former's girlfriend (now wife) as a consultant for both ministries, the commissioner said that in the light of his findings in this case and its outcome, he supported calls for abuse of office by persons holding state office to be made a criminal offence.
"This offence should cover wilful neglect of duty and misconduct in office, and it should apply to persons in political as well as administrative roles," he said.
The commissioner - retired chief justice Joseph Azzopardi - also outlined his findings in the case, which shocked the country last year.
He recalled that the woman in question had been given three successive appointments: as private secretary to Clayton Bartolo in April 2020; as a consultant to the same minister, with a correspondingly higher salary, in November 2020; and as a consultant to minister Clint Camilleri in April 2021. The third appointment was terminated in December 2021, at which point the person in question ceased to be in government employment.
"She had no qualifications or experience to justify her appointment as a consultant to either minister, and indeed she did not perform any consultancy work. She served as private secretary to the first minister throughout her time in all three posts. Thus the charge that she earned a salary without performing any work was unfounded, but her consultancy appointments effectively represented an unjustified increase in her salary," the commissioner said.
"Furthermore, her appointment as consultant with the second minister served as camouflage for the fact that she continued to work for the first minister, with whom she was in a personal relationship."
The commissioner had found both ministers guilty of abuse of power and failure to exercise diligence in the administration of public funds. In addition, he found the tourism minister guilty of favouritism. This minister argued that it was only after the person of trust was appointed as his consultant that the relationship between them started, so the relationship was not a factor in this appointment.
However, the Commissioner said, that the minister obviously knew her personally when he made her a consultant, because she was already serving as his private secretary. This was enough for the minister to be found guilty of favouritism.
He recalled that both ministers argued that they were not responsible for the consultancy appointments because their secretariat heads had selected the individual concerned. But, the commissioner said, it was "inconceivable" that such a post could be filled without the approval of the responsible minister.
Furthermore, according to the Public Administration Act, only ministers and parliamentary secretaries had the power to appoint persons of trust, including consultants. And both ministers had defended the appointment of the individual concerned in their submissions to the Commissioner, thereby assuming responsibility for the appointment even if one accepted that they had not been involved in it.
On November 27 the Parliamentary Standards Committee admonished both ministers. The committee also required the tourism minister to make a formal apology in Parliament. The woman refunded to the government the amount of €16,400 in salary overpaid to her during her employment as a consultant with both ministers successively.
Clayton Bartolo resigned within a few days over an unrelated case. No further action was taken against Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri.
The commissioner said that the engagement of persons of trust was regulated by the government’s Manual on Resourcing Policies and Procedures. He recommended changes for the introduction of better safeguards against unjustified appointments. Some of the recommendations were adopted when a new edition of the manual was issued in early January 2025.