Prime Minister Robert Abela has long heralded his rise to power in January 2020 as a turning point for good governance and the fight against corruption in Malta.
However, assessors from the pan-European anti-corruption body GRECO found his government has not carried out vital reforms recommended in 2019 to increase the country’s ability to combat high-level crime.
The assessment, published last week, found that Malta only fully implemented two of the anti-corruption body’s 23 recommendations to fight criminality and improve standards in public life.
GRECO concluded further progress is necessary to demonstrate an acceptable level of compliance with its recommendations within the next 18 months.
A forgotten anti-corruption policy
Promises for a national anti-corruption policy have remained on paper. The token step of setting up an inter-ministerial body to establish an integrity policy was taken, but little else was done, the assessors found. Actual work on the development of the national anti-corruption integrity strategy, which is to be built on a risk assessment, has not yet been initiated.
Promises for a national anti-corruption policy have remained on paper
Key quote:
“As already underlined in the evaluation report, Malta needs an over-arching anti-corruption strategy, which would serve as key policy guidance towards improving action against corruption. GRECO urges the authorities to proceed with the development of such [a] strategy based on proper risk assessments without any further delay.”
Empowering corruption probes
GRECO felt that the introduction of new laws authorising special investigative techniques such as wiretaps and similar measures in corruption cases would better help authorities prosecute such crimes.
While the security services can carry out wiretaps, they are viewed as intelligence that cannot then be presented as evidence in court, meaning the police often have difficulty building a solid case.
GRECO recommended that such evidence should become admissible, and it is made clear to all authorities involved in corruption probes that evidence lawfully obtained by such means is admissible in court.
However, assessors found the authorities had completely slept on the recommendation, even though it is one of the main factors for the inefficiency of the Maltese criminal justice system to effectively investigate corruption by top officials.
Key quote:
“GRECO notes that no steps – not even a legal analysis of what would be a possible way forward – have been taken by the authorities in respect of the present recommendation.”
The criminal justice system
One of the key GRECO recommendations made in 2019 was the streamlining of the criminal justice system, giving a central and active role to prosecutors.
GRECO had also urged that clear direction be given to investigative bodies that the launching of an investigation can be based on reasonable suspicion and does not require that evidence is readily submitted to them.
While acknowledging that promising legal amendments have been adopted by Malta to reform and streamline the criminal justice system, Greco said it cannot disregard information concerning persisting challenges faced by the criminal justice system.
Key quote:
“With many investigations into high-profile corruption cases pending over a few years in Malta by now, the urgency for making the necessary systemic changes is at its peak. Therefore, GRECO calls upon the Maltese authorities to take further steps to address this recommendation in its entirety without any further delay.”
Those persons of trust
Back in 2019, GRECO had advocated for clear regulation on the engagement of so-called persons of trust.
In the follow-up report, assessors found persons of trust still operate in a vacuum, where they are not considered to be public officers or public employees, potentially exempting them from integrity requirements expected of civil servants.
Furthermore, GRECO said recent amendments do not appear to fully address the recommendations to limit the number of persons of trust to an absolute minimum.
Key quote:
“…safeguards should be put in place to limit the number of appointments of ‘persons of trust’ in the government to an absolute minimum, and these positions should be subject to the same integrity requirements and supervision as other persons entrusted with top executive functions.”
Unregulated lobbying
Another forgotten recommendation by GRECO, later echoed in the Daphne Caruana Galizia public inquiry, was for the regulation of contact between lobbyists and government officials.
GRECO’s report indicates that the government kicked the can down the road on this by promising that the regulation of lobbying will form part of the discussions in the “forthcoming” constitutional convention.
This convention, a precursor to a major constitutional revamp, has been “forthcoming” ever since former prime minister Joseph Muscat’s ambitions of a “second republic” in 2013.
Key quote:
“…at this stage, there are no rules or legislation to regulate contacts between persons entrusted with top executive functions and lobbyists/third parties in place, not even at the drafting level. It follows that GRECO cannot consider this recommendation to be implemented, even partly.”