A number of Maltese organisations published an open letter sent to S&D Group President Iratxe Garcia-Perez and other members of the EU political party, expressing concern over the party's support for the government's magisterial inquiry reform bill.

They issued the open letter after PL Deputy Leader and MEP Alex Agius Saliba and the President of the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) in the European Parliament, Iratxe García Pérez, wrote a joint letter to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, to "clear up" what the Labour Party said were "misconceptions" being touted by the PN about the reforms to the magisterial inquiry process in Malta. 

In their open letter, the groups said: "We write as non-governmental organisations that are actively involved in promoting transparency, good governance, and the protection of human rights as essential to the rule of law in Malta. We are concerned at the news that the S&D group has written to the president of the European Commission to defend the Maltese government's proposed Bill 125 (the bill that proposes changes to magisterial inquiries)."

"The Bill has been falsely described as 'follow(ing) on the lines of the recommendation made by the Venice Commission in its Opinion of the 18th December 2018'. It reflects neither the letter nor the spirit of the Venice Commission's recommendations. If adopted, the Bill will consolidate the almost impregnable shield protecting members of the Executive from investigations of corruption, nepotism, maladministration, and other crimes."

The groups also said that the Government's proposals "do not address the fundamental and urgent need to evolve Malta's criminal justice system to ensure criminal proceedings conclude in a reasonable time, to minimise the frequency of failed prosecutions, and to improve the low conviction rate for violent crime as well as fraud and corruption. This is not a partisan concern, as we note that weaknesses in the criminal justice system have resulted in the failure to secure justice in corruption cases the incumbent party once championed."

The groups wrote that "Some of the proposals that grant new rights to victims and their heirs to be kept informed about the inquiry proceedings and to receive a copy of the inquiry report without payment, clarify some aspects of the situation with respect to court-appointed experts, and put time limits on investigations which, in non-complex cases that do not involve financial crime and corruption, could provide more legal certainty."

These proposals are being prepended and appended to an initiative which, without them, could be nakedly evaluated as an attempt to kill investigations into current members of the cabinet, the groups wrote.

"In its rushed attempt to enact Bill 125 despite near universal condemnation, the Maltese Government appears to have prioritised protecting members of the Executive under the guise of instituting reform, while pushing back against the real reforms that our country needs. We therefore ask you, as members of the S&D Group in the European Parliament, to be more intentional, conscious, and proactive in leading the fight with positive initiatives against corruption."

The groups that signed the open letter are the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation, aditus foundation, Malta Office of Fondazione Falcone, Repubblika and Moviment Graffitti.