The appointment of a former member of the Prison Board of Governors to an inquiry board looking into the state in Malta’s prisons is not a conflict of interest, the Home Affairs Ministry told The Malta Independent.

Replying to questions on the appointment of Janice Formosa Pace as one of three people on an inquiry board which will look into the situation at the Corradino Correctional Facility earlier this week, a spokesperson for the ministry said that the functions of the Board of Governors is “solely policy in nature and therefore, the Board is not involved in any administrative matters relating to the Correctional Services Agency.”

Anton Grech will lead the inquiry board along with Formosa Pace and George Grech, and the board has the responsibility to scrutinise several procedures within Malta’s prisons and which deal with prisoners’ physical and mental wellbeing.

Formosa Pace resigned from the Board of Governance of the prison to be able to serve on this new board.

The board was appointed after yet another prisoner attempted to commit suicide last week – the second this summer.  The prisoner in question was hospitalised.

The situation has placed increased scrutiny on Malta’s prison, with many now calling for the resignation of the Home Affairs Minister over the situation which has now festered at Corradino.

Questions were also raised about the appointment of Formosa Pace onto the board in particular – not over her qualifications, but over the fact that she was a member of the Prison Board of Governors.

“The Prison Board of Governors was first set up by this Government to strengthen the policies governing the country's prison system. Kindly note that the functions of the Prison Board of Governors are solely policy in nature and therefore, the Board is not involved in any administrative matters relating to the Correctional Services Agency”, a spokesperson for the Home Affairs Ministry told this newsroom when asked whether there was any conflict of interest in Formosa Pace being one of the people looking into the situation at the prisons.

“The board of inquiry is responsible for evaluating the current systems in place which requires a high level of expertise. The members of the board all have the required level of expertise to undertake the task at hand and that is precisely why they were appointed”, the spokesperson added.

The spokesperson pointed out that Formosa Pace holds a PhD in Intergenerational Crime Research (Huddersfield), MSc Forensic & Legal Psychology (Leicester), a Diploma in Probation Services (Melit) , BPsych (Melit) and is a senior lecturer at the University of Malta and that she was the first expert who drafted the first National Crime Prevention Strategy for Malta.

“Dr. Formosa Pace is one of the few academics that focused her studies on matters related to crime, including intergenerational crime in Maltese families, together with vast experience in prison studies”, the spokesperson concluded.

The inquiry board is entrusted with scrutinising procedures surrounding the assessment of the mental and physical wellbeing of the inmates who would have just entered prison, and a study on the regulations imposed by the Correctional Services Agency, along with also scrutinising procedures relating to the assessment of the mental and physical wellbeing of the inmates during the course of their sentence and procedures adopted on prisoners returning to Corradino after being discharged from Mount Carmel Hospital.

It will also scrutinise the procedures, policies and regulations adopted by the Correctional Services Agency on the rehabilitation of inmates, and scrutinise measures on the prevention of suicides followed by the agency.

The board has 60 days to present its report to the Home Affairs Ministry and is independent from any magisterial inquiry.

12 prisoners have died at Corradino in the last three years, while a number of horror stories – some including the use of a punishment chair and of solitary confinement as a form of mental torture – have also emerged.