It is often used as a battle cry within the realm of the Planning Authority, within the Judiciary, the legal profession, in various roles and functions of the central administration, and, surprisingly, even vis-à-vis the Commissioner for Standards in Public Life, who, at the same time faced such an allegation, was himself reviewing eight cases of conflict of interest. Conflict of interest and clientelism are major problems on the local scene. Perhaps it is due to the small size of our country and the fact that everyone knows everyone. A former prime minister once aptly described this scourge as an ever-growing circle of “friends of friends”.

Identifying and resolving conflict-of-interest situations is crucial to good governance and maintaining trust in public institutions. However, experience shows that this can be difficult to achieve in daily practice. In response to growing demand in the public sector, providing a set of practical solutions for developing and implementing ways to manage conflicts of interest has always been elusive, even in the private sector.

In our society, there are increasing expectations from ordinary citizens, business leaders and civil society that our governments should deliver higher standards of integrity in the civil service, public institutions, public services, government-controlled corporations and the government itself. In this context, conflict of interest in its various forms should become a significant consideration in the day-to-day work of those who occupy public offices and positions of trust. But how can one make those expectations a practical reality?

Conflicts of interest in the public sector are particularly important because, if they are not recognised and controlled appropriately, they can undermine the fundamental integrity of officials, decisions, agencies and governments. We do not need to go much back in time to list numerous situations where conflicts of interest were alleged, perceived or occurred in fact and were not investigated, allayed or redressed. True, we did have one or two instances where conflict of interest situations were investigated and eventually redressed, but they came late in the day when the damage, be it environmental, administrative or any other type, had already been irreparably done.

Anyone proceeding to decide, act or function in a specific role in which there is a manifest conflict of interest scenario would be making short shrift of the expected integrity accompanying that functional role. In this sense, proceeding, notwithstanding the conflict, would be verging on the corrupt or abusive.

A conflict of interest is both a straightforward and complex matter. In principle, it is easy to define: in the public sector, a conflict of interest arises when a public official has private-capacity interests that could improperly influence the performance of their official duties and responsibilities. Establishing effective policy frameworks to control conflicts can be a complex task. To resolve a specific conflict, it is necessary to establish relevant facts, apply the relevant law and policy and distinguish between "actual", "apparent", "real" and "potential" conflict situations. This requires technical skill and an understanding of the many issues that are usually involved. The language itself can be confusing. "Having an interest" in, for example, the outcome of a decision is not the same as being "interested" in the outcome, that is, curious. If officials could personally gain something from their decision, they could be said to "have an interest" in it.

A "conflict of interest", therefore, involves a conflict between the officials’ interests (what they could gain, not necessarily financially) and their duty as civil servants and is to be avoided as far as is reasonably possible. In general, the appearance of a conflict of interest is also to be avoided to minimise the risk to the organisation’s (and the officials') reputation for integrity. As perceived conflicts of interest could be similarly harmful to trust in public decision-making, prime ministers, ministers, parliamentary secretaries, and civil servants should also consider perception when they decide on specific cases.

With the increasing number of new forms of partnership between government and the private sector, conflicts of interest take on new forms, presenting new challenges to policymakers and public managers. Conflict-of-interest situations cannot be avoided by simply prohibiting all private-capacity interests on the part of public officials. It does not, and should not, work out that way.

Again, a conflict of interest is not necessarily corruption, which is understood as "actual abuse of public office for private advantage". But a conflict does have the potential for corrupt conduct. Conflicts between private interests and the public duties of public officials must, therefore, be correctly identified, appropriately managed and effectively resolved. Left unresolved, a conflict of interest can result in corrupt conduct, abuse of public office, misconduct, breach of trust or unlawful action. More importantly, public confidence in the integrity of public institutions can also be seriously damaged. It is no exaggeration that a good section of our population is angry about the cesspool of corruption, conflicts of interest and self-dealing that has surfaced.

Just as in the private sector, no person or entity can have two relationships competing with each other for a person's loyalty, so, too, civil servants and public officials are expected to use powers and resources for the public good, in accordance with the law and government policy. They should be prepared to be accountable for the decisions they make and to justify their official decisions and actions to a relevant authority or publicly, as appropriate in the circumstances.

Conflicts of interest in both the public and private sectors will remain a major matter of public concern in our small society. Yet, in the time that civil society in our country is bringing things into the open with a clean breath of fresh air, we have learned of corrupt spending practices and unethical conflicts of interest that keep wasting taxpayers’ money and keep beautiful Malta from being the great nation of our dreams.

Dr Mark Said is a lawyer