Malta has been under the spotlight of international institutions for quite a while. Not for the right reasons.

We have been reprimanded, told to work harder and even punished for our failures. Resolutions have been passed demanding stronger action by the authorities. People in top European positions have insisted that Malta needs to change tack.

Suffice it to say that we were the first European country to be placed on the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force. We are now embarrassingly part of a group of nations who are seen to have deficiencies in their ways of tackling money laundering and financing of terrorism.

It’s not a nice place to be and, although we have been told that we are making progress, this will always remain a dark spot on our reputation. It’s also not a given that we will get off the list at the first opportunity. The latest mishaps could throw us backwards.

Malta has also been repeatedly pushed to withdraw its golden passport scheme, a project that has brought in money to the country, but at the expense of our standing. The European Union does not like it that Malta is selling passports to people from outside the EU who then, by becoming Maltese citizens, automatically also become European. The government’s stubbornness on this matter is not helping. Not even the war in Ukraine has made a difference in the way the government sees things.

Over the years, we have also seen the rule of law seriously undermined by the weakness of our system of checks and balances. It was only last April that the European Union’s chief prosecutor, Laura Codruta Kovesi, raised concerns about the situation in Malta. She said she was unable to identify the institution in Malta responsible for investigating financial crimes. All the institutions she met with said “it’s not us, it’s them”. If she had been an examiner and Malta her student, she would have failed us.

Rule of law

One of the basic concepts of the rule of law is that all citizens and institutions of the country are accountable to the same set of laws, and that no-one – from top to bottom – is above those laws.

But as George Orwell once said, some animals are more equal than others. The application of this supposed equality has often left so much to be desired. We have had people who held important positions accused of serious crimes, but the underlying understanding is that this is too little, and perhaps already too late.

These accusations have so far not led to any convictions. The wheels of our justice system turn very slowly, a fault about which we have known for decades, but on which little has been done to speed it up.

It must be admitted that some crimes are harder to prove than others. And, with the law always being in favour of the accused, it is extremely difficult to find the evidence needed to prosecute, which implies that it will be even tougher for the courts to find the persons involved guilty.

Unless, of course, there is a confession, which could then bring about a domino effect, these types of crimes are problematic to untangle. But such confessions are not easily obtained, as anyone allegedly involved knows that the chances of exoneration for lack of proof are high. So they keep their mouth shut.

The police

The police are often accused of not doing much.

One question which needs to be asked – and, more importantly, answered – is whether they have the resources to investigate. Resources do not mean just enough numbers, but also efficiency and knowhow, as well as the financial means with which to thoroughly look into situations that could potentially lead to procedures in court.

The police do not help themselves when people who are supposedly under their watch are allowed to leave the country without being held, or when accused persons are acquitted just because the charge sheet was not prepared properly.

The police do not endear themselves when they do not say much about any investigations they are conducting. They say that the law precludes them from sharing this information, but this lack of openness is often interpreted as meaning that the police are doing nothing. One understands that any details that are made public could jeopardise their work, but they could be more forthcoming in their answers instead of just hiding behind some article of the law. Admitting that an investigation is ongoing does not mean that the person/s under investigation is/are guilty.

Press conferences by the police are hard to come by, and they mostly take place when a murder is committed. Even here, the police show reluctance in providing information. In recent years, a communications officer has been employed to act as a liaison with the media. This is a step forward although, even here, it is clear that there is only so much that this officer is allowed, or is prepared, to say.

But perhaps the time has come for the police, including the commissioner, to open themselves up to press conferences, and one-on-one interviews, where more direct questions can be made and, hopefully, answered. This should not only happen when the police want to promote something that they’re doing. They should accept to be scrutinised.

The law courts

Malta has increased the number of judges and magistrates, but this has not been enough to increase the efficiency of the system.

The last report on Malta by the Council of Europe’s European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice shows that Malta has half the number of judges and magistrates per 100,000 persons when compared to the European Union average. Conversely, it has three times as many lawyers per 100,000 persons when compared to the EU average. In simple terms, members of the judiciary have to deal with many more cases than they can handle.

It is therefore inevitable that court cases still take too long to be decided, and all the stakeholders are to blame for this. Sometimes months pass between one sitting and another. Parties who have every interest to prolong the process resort to every trick of the trade to reach their target. Cases that are brought before the courts, and which take years to decide, can often be resolved in a few sittings. Sometimes, trivial matters end up before magistrates, wasting their time and resources, when they could easily be seen to in out-of-court settlements.

The phrase “justice delayed is justice denied” has become just a cliché, mostly used as a way to instil a bigger sense of responsibility when it is known that things will not change.

The government

The government’s track record in the fight against corruption and money laundering, and the upholding of the rule of law is far from being impressive.

In spite of this and other shortcomings, the Labour Party was given a third consecutive term in office by the Maltese voters, who made it clear that this particular subject is not high on the list of their priorities.

But although the Maltese electorate, in its majority, does not believe that the government is failing us in this, European institutions are not happy with Malta’s approach.

The government tries to pin the blame on the Nationalists for putting Malta in bad light, but the PN does not wield so much power.

It then says that it is implementing recommendations that have been made but, even here, the progress is slow.

Other than this, the government should be providing more resources to all institutions – not only the police and the law courts – for them to be able to carry out their duties better.

Any opposition to do this would only serve to strengthen the idea that the government is reluctant to see them improve their performance.