One of the items on Franco Debono’s laundry list of reforms he proposed in the Justice sector is the separation of the investigative function of the police from their role as prosecutors in a Court of Justice.

This is not only a legitimate objective; it is highly desirable in the interest of public confidence in the autonomy and transparency of our tribunals.

I bring this up because I note that in the UK steps are now being taken to separate the investigative from the adjudicative functions of its General Medical Council (GMC), a quasi-judicial statutory body long established to act as watchdog of medical standards and the professional conduct of doctors on its registers.

Our own Medical Council Malta, set up in1969 and modelled on the GMC, trails behind. Annual reports of its operation began to appear in 2000 after a campaign in the press to break the prevailing rampant omerta, for years wrapped up in the guise of ‘confidentiality’. Annual reports are now mandatory but their publication is often late and restricted to the Internet.

The investigative role is assigned to a separate sub-committee within the same Medical Council. In spite of a vastly increased workload, it remains short of clerical staff and has yet to be housed in proper and decent premises. No special provisions or register are in existence for retired doctors.

Public announcement of the time and place of its judicial sessions is reduced to a minimum and the constitution of the Council itself contains too many nominated members.

Perhaps the time has come to revisit Medical Council Malta and the Health Care Professions Act.

Prof. J.A. Muscat

TA’ XBIEX