Members of Parliament should be disqualified from the House of Representatives if they accept contracts "of any kind" from the government or public entities, the Commissioner for Standards in Public Life is proposing.
In a 138-page report published on Thursday, George Hyzler made a series of wide-ranging proposals for changes to the Constitution to "improve standards in public life".
The report has been presented to President George Vella in response to his call for submissions on constitutional reform.
In July, Dr Hyzler had harsh criticism for the practice of giving government jobs and consultancies to backbench MPs, insisting this was “fundamentally wrong” and should end.
At the time, the Commissioner had said the practice diluted Parliament’s role of scrutinising the government and goes against the Code of Ethics of Public Employees and Board Members and the underlying principles of the Constitution.
Aside from being "disqualified" if they accept contracts with government or public entities, Dr Hyzler is also proposing that MPs should not be allowed to accept appointments as persons of trust or as members of government boards and committees.
“Democratic principles require that Parliament should be capable of holding the government to account, but Parliament cannot fulfil this role effectively if backbench MPs are financially dependent on the government," the report reads.
Dr Hyzler, who co-wrote the report with his office's director-general Charles Polidano, also proposes that judges and magistrates should be selected on merit following public calls for expressions of interest to fill specific vacancies in the judiciary.
This would ensure that the "best person for each vacancy" is appointed, they said.
"The government should retain its current power to overrule the selection process in exceptional instances, but it should publicise and justify any such cases."
While noting that the present system of judicial appointments was reformed in 2016, Dr Hyzler believes it still gives "the government of the day too much discretion".
“Even worse from the point of view of judicial independence, promotions within the judiciary – from magistrate to judge and from judge to Chief Justice – remain entirely at the discretion of the government.”
On appointments based on trust, it is proposed that the Constitution should permit appointments on trust, "but only in ministers’ secretariats".
The report also includes draft amendments to the Constitution that are based on these proposals.
Chaired by the President, the steering committee is tasked with laying out the groundwork ahead of a highly-anticipated reform of the Constitution.
Established last November, it is made up of representatives from the Labour and Nationalist parties. Justice Minister Owen Bonnici, parliamentary secretary Julia Farrugia and former deputy prime minister Louis Grech are Labour’s representatives, while MP Chris Said, former European Commissioner Tonio Borg and Amy Camilleri Zahra represent the PN.