The Commissioner for Standards in Public Life has issued his annual report for 2021 which outlines the role of the Commissioner as set out by the Standards in Public Life Act and the procedures he follows when considering complaints against members of Parliament and persons of trust.

A section in the Report under the heading of “Selected Issues Arising from Cases” covers “The investigation of Cabinet decisions” and the use of Article 20 (1) regarding the award of a particular direct order in Gozo.

The Report explains that “Article 20(1) of the Standards in Public Life Act empowers the Prime Minister to certify that the disclosure of particular information would affect the security of Malta or its international relations; would be likely to seriously damage the national economy; would involve revealing the deliberations or proceedings of Cabinet or Cabinet committees; or would prejudice the investigation or detection of offences.”

It says that “the effect of a certification by the Prime Minister under article 20(1) would be to block demands for such information by the Commissioner.”

The Report states that Article 20(1) was invoked by the Prime Minister on a single occasion during 2021, in connection with a case concerning the award by direct order of a contract for the conversion of a hotel in Gozo into a home for the elderly.

It explains that “after the Commissioner wrote to the Minister for Gozo to pose questions about this case, the Prime Minister replied stating that the entire subject matter of the case concerned a Cabinet decision taken collectively by ministers in the context of a public health emergency.”

“The Prime Minister certified for the purposes of article 20(1) that the provision of any information about the case would result in the disclosure of Cabinet deliberations and proceedings, and this applied also to any documents already provided to the Commissioner,” the Report said

The Report continues that the “Commissioner sought legal advice about the interpretation of article 20(1) of the Act. On the basis of this advice he came to the conclusion that while a certification from the Prime Minister under article 20(1) could prevent him from gathering certain classes of information, it could not stop him from investigating a case or obtaining information that did not fall within the specified classes.”

The Commissioner therefore opted to continue his investigation of this particular case. “He was able to gather sufficient information to arrive at a clear conclusion that there had been no wrongdoing on the part of the minister concerned.”

However, the Report noted that the case “led the Commissioner to consider whether ministers who committed a breach of ethics or an abuse of power would be exonerated if they did so while implementing a Cabinet decision.”

“The Commissioner concluded that ministers remained responsible for their actions even if those actions were taken in the course of the execution of a Cabinet decision,” it said.

The Report in full is some 57 pages long including financial statements and reviews decisions taken by the Commissioner in the course of his consideration of complaints. It also reviews cases regarding which the Commissioner submitted reports to Parliament’s Standards Committee during 2021.

The report states that the Standards Commissioner received 41 complaints during 2021. The Commissioner closed 39 complaints, of which he found 25 ineligible for investigation under the Act while he investigated and concluded 14.

The Commissioner had 16 complaints outstanding at the start of 2021 and he ended the year with 18 complaints outstanding.

The annual report covers other activities carried out by the Standards Commissioner during 2021, including the publication of guidelines on government advertising and promotional material, and the launch of an EU-funded project to improve the integrity and transparency framework in Malta.

This project is being undertaken at the Commissioner’s request by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The full report, which is in English, is available for download by clicking here.

Photo: A Downtown room for elderly residents

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