Prime Minister Robert Abela has dismissed criticism of government plans to protect public officers from prosecution in their personal capacity, insisting that the government would take responsibility for the actions of its officials acting in their line of duty.

Replying to questions after criticism that the officials were effectively being granted immunity, in what amounted to a threat to democracy,  Abela said the government would put into law what was the practice before lawsuits started being filed abusively against civil servants personally, in a clear attempt to hinder the government's work.

Attempts were being made to scare senior civil servants to discourage them from continuing their government work, he said.  But once the laws were amended, they would be able to go about their duties without fear of court proceedings against them personally. That responsibility would fall on the government.

Some civil servants, even those who had retired, had been taken to court without a shred of evidence against them, the prime minister said.

On Sunday, Abela said he would not tolerate abuse of the legal system, particularly cases where “innocent people face the calvary of court proceedings for years before being declared innocent.”

“We have to ensure that those who lie and abuse the system to put people under magisterial inquiries face justice,” he said.

Several permanent secretaries are facing charges over their role in the Vitals Hospitals deal. 

The Nationalist Party has accused Abela of “wanting immunity for corrupt politicians and their accomplices.”

NGO Repubblika said Abela's plans were “horrific” and "an attempt to destroy what remains of the rule of law in Malta." 

The long-standing tradition of holding public officials to account should not be undermined, it insisted.

Il-Kollettiv, another NGO, echoed those concerns, calling the draft law a “dangerous attempt to grant immunity to the political class while robbing citizens of their right to justice.”

Independent candidate Arnold Cassola described the proposal as "unacceptable" and called for public resistance. “We must resist this serious threat to democracy,” he said, adding that the measure extended impunity from corrupt politicians to servile civil servants who, in their personal capacity, were cheating the country.