The Commissioner for Standards in Public Life has issued a statement reiterating that it is wrong for the government to give jobs to backbench members of Parliament, that is to say those who are not ministers or parliamentary secretaries. The statement follows a report issued by the Commissioner on 5 July 2019 in which he…
Dr George Hyzler, Commissioner for Standards in Public Life, has concluded that the Prime Minister did not commit a breach of ethics when he engaged a British law firm to send a legal letter on behalf of the government. The case relates to the publication of a book entitled Murder on the Malta Express, which…
Dr George Hyzler, Commissioner for Standards in Public Life, is proposing changes to the Constitution to strengthen the independence of Parliament and the judiciary, and to reinforce the principle of merit in appointments within public administration. The Commissioner’s proposals are set out in a 138-page report which he has presented to the President of Malta…
The Commissioner for Standards in Public Life has concluded that a government press statement of 17 August 2019 was incorrect to claim that ministers’ salaries are exactly the same as they were in 2013. However, this was due to inattention rather than a deliberate attempt to deceive, and in any case it was corrected immediately….
The Public Administration Act (chapter 595 of the laws of Malta) includes a code of ethics for public employees. This code states among other things that public employees who deal with private firms as part of their official duties can be prevented from accepting jobs with those firms after resigning from public employment. According to…
The Commissioner for Standards in Public Life has issued a report on a complaint by Dr Andrew Borg Cardona alleging that a press statement issued by the Minister for Justice, Culture and Local Government through the Department of Information (DOI) constituted inappropriate use of public resources because it was political in nature. The ministerial statement…
The Commissioner for Standards in Public Life has issued a report calling on ministers and the Department of Information (DOI) not to issue press statements that are unrelated to official matters or that are partisan in tone. The Commissioner’s report deals with a press statement issued by the Ministry for Tourism through the DOI on…
The Commissioner for Standards in Public Life has issued a report calling for an end to the practice of giving backbench members of Parliament jobs or consultancies with the government. The report describes the practice as “fundamentally wrong”. The Commissioner concluded that this practice dilutes Parliament’s role of scrutinising the executive; goes against the underlying…
Kathryn Stone OBE, Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards in the United Kingdom, paid an official visit to Malta at the invitation of Malta’s Commissioner for Standards in Public Life, Dr George Hyzler. Ms Stone was accompanied by the Hon. Kate Green MP, chairperson of the UK House of Commons Select Committee on Standards. The visit took…
Persons of trust became subject to a new code of ethics on 1 March 2019. The Standards in Public Life Act obliges persons of trust – meaning persons who are engaged in the private secretariats of ministers and parliamentary secretaries, and who serve in an advisory, consultative or executive capacity – to abide by the…
