The Aditus Foundation has written to the European Union's institutions urging them to monitor the rule of law in Malta.
The foundation, whose mission is to monitor and report on human rights in Malta, said it had serious concerns about Malta’s rapidly degenerating rule of law standards following the developments in recent days.
"In our views, publicly expressed, Malta’s governance institutions are largely failing to fulfil their roles in preventing and addressing serious abuses of political, executive and administrative power.
"It is shameful that the entities entrusted by the nation to ensure justice, fairness, efficiency and democratic process – the public service, the judiciary, administrative tribunals, the police and armed forces, and state agencies – are consistently used as tools in the hands of the ruling party of the day."
The 2017 brutal assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia and its aftermath further stressed the climate of impunity and lack of accountability within the highest levels of government.
Developments unfolding in recent weeks were shocking the nation not only in terms of their revelations but, importantly, about how they were being handled by the very institutions mandated to protect the nation.
This was resulting in a breakdown in the people’s confidence in state institutions and in rising tensions and civil unrest.
As a member state of the European Union, Malta was politically and legally bound to conduct its internal affairs in a manner that was consistent and in conformity with European Union treaties, legislation and core values, Aditus said as it called on the EU institutions to assess the current national situation with a view to ensuring a manner of governance that effectively complied with Malta’s status as a European Union Member State.
"We would like to urge you to use your good offices to call attention of the Maltese authorities to their obligations to abide by those European values, enshrined in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union, to which Malta has committed itself.
"We also invite you to formally raise these issues within your respective institutions for them to be considered in earnest and, where necessary, for decisions, resolutions and courses of action to be swiftly adopted either in follow up to the above-mentioned resolutions and recommendations or as new initiatives."