The Ombudsman has accused the House of Representatives of sleeping on investigation reports handed over for remedial action. 

Ombudsman Anthony Mifsud (left) has lamented parliament's inaction on a number of investigation reports.

Parliamentary Ombudsman Anthony Mifsud presented the case notes for 2018 to Speaker Anġlu Farrugia on Wednesday afternoon.

In his forward address, the Ombudsman said that “a number of final opinions have been sent to the Speaker of the House of Representatives following negative response from the public authorities to requests to implement our recommendations".

"We have indicated that to date none of these referrals have been actively considered by the House. There has been no response whatsoever.”

The Ombudsman continued that: “One can safely conclude that this statutory procedure provided for in the Ombudsman Act, which was meant to be a final safeguard to provide redress against injustice to aggrieved citizens, is proving to be ineffective. This needs to be remedied.”

This concern, Mr Mifsud added, was also highlighted by the Venice Commission in their opinion on Constitutional arrangements and separation of powers and the independence of the judiciary and law enforcement.

In this respect, the Ombudsman welcomed the commencement of the legislative process initiated by Government in Parliament on changes suggested by the Venice Commission.

The annual publication of case notes is meant to provide an inkling into the investigation of complaints carried out by the Ombudsman and the Commissioners in his office, the considerations on which their final opinions are based and the type of remedy or redress recommended.

This year’s edition reported cases that were of general interest and meant to provide a fair “cross-section” of the complaints investigated.