Children's Commissioner Pauline Miceli has said she does not feel comfortable with politicians using children as part of their political campaigning, after a Labour MP gave sweets to children in her district as part of a Halloween stunt.

The stunt was first flagged by independent candidate Arnold Cassola, who wrote to Miceli to ask whether Rosianne Cutajar handing out sweets to primary school children is acceptable. 

While saying she was aware of such antics, Miceli added: "I don't feel comfortable with them".

"That is why a few years ago we held an exercise with all stakeholders and anyone interested in drawing up guidelines with the Standards Authority on the 'use' of children in political propaganda and the media," Miceli said in her reply on Monday. 

The commissioner said that although political parties had agreed with the guidelines, they still had no "legal strength". 

Those guidelines stated that anyone using children for a media campaign must obtain their prior written consent and that of their guardians, and that data should be destroyed or returned once the campaign is over.

They also state that recognised professionals should carry out a harm assessment before children are involved in such campaigns. 

Cutajar's Halloween stunt

Last Saturday, Cutajar posted a number of photos of her visiting schools with bags of candy and toothpaste. The red bags were branded with her name. 

Cutajar visited schools that fall within her electoral district. 

The General Election Act bans the provision of food, drinks or preferential treatment to influence votes. People found guilty are liable to a fine of up to €1,160 or a six-month prison term.

This is not the first time Cutajar’s freebies were called out. Back in June, civil society groups had called on police to investigate the MP for distributing oranges to the residents of a care home. The home was also in her district.  

Standards Commissioner George Hylzer had subsequently ruled that 'treating', as the practice is called in law, only begins once a general election has been called and that the matter should be handled by the police, not his office.