The government’s continued reluctance to divulge information has been flagged as an issue of concern by the Council of Europe’s human rights commissioner.
In a letter to Prime Minister Robert Abela, Dunja Mijatović said she had received information about local authorities continually denying access to information through the Freedom of Information Act.
The reluctance suggested “a pattern of unwarranted secrecy within state institutions regarding information that could be of significant public interest,” she wrote.
Mijatović raised the concern in a letter she sent to Abela on September 26 and published on Tuesday.
The letter sought to convey concerns about the failure to implement recommendations of the public inquiry report into the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia, and to stress the need for reforms of media laws to go beyond the government’s original proposals.
On Monday, the prime minister announced that revised proposals to change media laws would be presented for consultation as part of a White Paper – a request made by several independent journalists, editors and academics as well as the Institute of Maltese Journalists.
That day, Justice Minister Jonathan Attard also replied to Mijatović with a letter of his own. In it, Attard said journalists whose FOI requests are denied can file an appeal and also take their qualm to the law courts if that initial appeal is unsuccessful.
Government entities regularly turn down FOI requests and Malta’s data protection commissioner has acknowledged that the existing law needs to be changed to be rendered more effective.
But despite Commissioner Ian Deguara having said in May 2021 that work to revise the existing law had started, two years on there is no sign of more robust FOI legislation being enacted.
Mijatović also wrote a separate letter to Parliament Speaker Anglu Farrugia, emphasising the need for revised media laws to better protect journalists against vexatious lawsuits, better known as SLAPP.
She also urged Malta’s parliament to ensure new media laws adhered to European Court of Human Rights case law, as well as Council of Europe recommendations on protecting journalists and SLAPP.
“The enactment of well-drafted, comprehensive legislation that, at a minimum, upholds these standards would go a long way towards ensuring robust protection for both journalists and all individuals in Malta and guarding against abuse of the judicial system. Parliament has a unique role and responsibility in this crucial process,” Mijatović wrote.
Farrugia replied by noting that MPs have yet to debate updated media reform proposals and also informed the Council of Europe representative that the Opposition intends to table a motion to set up a select committee focused on the media reform proposals and feedback provided through consultation.