A number of recommendations made by an international anti-corruption body back in 2019 have yet to be implemented by the Maltese government, including ones related to the powers of the Standards Commissioner and freedom of information requests.

The Council of Europe's Group of States against Corruption, known as GRECO, found that Malta has implemented satisfactorily or dealt with in a satisfactory manner eight of the 23 recommendations contained in its Fifth Round Evaluation Report, which deals with "preventing corruption and promoting integrity in central governments (top executive functions, persons with top executive functions) and law enforcement agencies".

It said that 7 recommendations had been partly implemented and 8 have not been implemented.

Among those not implemented, the anti-corruption body had put forward recommendations regarding asset and interest declarations. Firstly, it had recommended that the current regime of such declarations be further developed by extending to persons entrusted with top executive functions, including persons of trust who are associated with a minister's decision-making, the duty to file a detailed declaration with the Commissioner for Standards in Public Life, and considering including information on the spouses (it being understood that the latter information would not necessarily be made public); and ensuring that all declarations are made systematically, easily and publicly accessible on-line.

Secondly, it had recommended to ensure that asset and interest declarations of persons entrusted with top executive functions be subject to effective and proactive checks by the Commissioner for Standards in Public Life "and that the institution is therefore provided with adequate legal, human and other means and required to report publicly and regularly about its work, and that clear consequences and effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions are applicable to guarantee the accuracy and correctness of information declared as well as the actual filing of a declaration."

Neither of these recommendations were implemented, it said, adding that it "is concerned by the lack of tangible action from the authorities of Malta to extend the regime of asset and interest declarations to all PTEFs, to be submitted to the Commissioner for Standards in Public Life and made public."

Another was a recommendation for the Freedom of Information Act of 2008 to be subject to an independent and thorough analysis, and that in light of the findings, additional measures be taken so that exceptions to the rule of public disclosure are interpreted and applied more specifically and narrowly.

On this point. GRECO noted information provided by the authorities, that a new, online system for lodging requests for information is soon to be completed and become operational. "However, even upon its completion, this measure would not address the core of the present recommendation, i.e. the broad exceptions in the Freedom of Access to Information Act to the communication of information ('internal working documents', 'documents affecting financial or property interests of public authorities' etc.) and difficulties in obtaining information in practice, leading to frequent appeals against refusals of public authorities to provide information upon request." GRECO said that "it remains concerned that no tangible progress has been demonstrated in resolving these matters, whereas it is led to believe that access to public information remains a challenge."

Another was a recommendation for the development and implementation of an integrity strategy in respect of all pertinent categories of persons entrusted with top executive functions, and a recommendation for rules to be laid down to govern contacts between persons with top executive functions (PTEFs) and lobbyists/third parties that seek to influence the public decision-making process, with the disclosure of such contacts and the subject-matters discussed.

GRECO, in its report published on 25 November this year, concluded that Malta is still "not in sufficient compliance" with the recommendations contained in the Fifth Round Evaluation Report and asked Malta to provide a report on the progress in implementing the outstanding recommendations by 30 June 2026 at the latest.

In its concluding remarks, it said that as regards persons entrusted with top executive functions (PTEFs), "only very limited progress has been demonstrated. Training on integrity and ethics continues, including for some categories of persons in top executive functions, but it needs to be extended to ministers, permanent secretaries and other senior officials. Declaring conflicts of interest has become mandatory, and the Conflict of Interest Committee has been designated to examine and manage such situations, also in the context of incompatibilities and parallel activities. However, it remains unclear whether these rules are also applicable to 'persons of trust', who remain outside of the supervision by the Commissioner for Standards in Public Life, and whether complaints on possible conflicts of interest could also be submitted by other institutions and the members of the public."

It also noted that against the background of these modest steps, "progress is still lacking in the vast majority of areas fundamental to promoting integrity and preventing corruption in the executive. No new developments have occurred in adopting and implementing an integrity strategy for persons in top executive functions. The function of the confidential counselling has not been dissociated from the competences of the Commissioner on Standards in Public Life, a body in charge of supervising ethics and integrity observance. No evidence has been provided that GRECO's concerns regarding various obstacles in access to information have been resolved, notably, in relation to broad exceptions and difficulties in obtaining information in practice. The imminent setting up of a new Public Consultation Department is expected to enhance transparency in policymaking and drafting of legislation. However, no concrete information has been provided concerning the application of exceptions to the disclosure of governmental draft legislation, nor regarding the consistent and timely online publication of outcomes from public consultation processes in an accessible format. No adequate rules have been put in place to govern and disclose to the public contacts between persons in top executive functions and lobbyists/third parties seeking to influence the decision-making process. Of particular concern is the persisting lack of action to extend the regime of asset and interest declarations to all persons in top executive functions, make sure that such declarations are subject to effective and pro-active checks, and introduce effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions for breaches."

With regard to the criminal justice response, it welcomed the completion of the transfer of competences to prosecute for corruption-related offences exclusively to the Attorney General's Office. "However, nothing has been done to address a longstanding concern of GRECO: the need to introduce legislative and practical measures to enable the use of special investigative techniques in corruption cases and ensure the admissibility of the resulting evidence in court."

It noted that the recently adopted amendments to the Criminal Code with regard to magisterial inquiries may require closer examination, "as the recent reports in the media raise concerns over possible risks of weakening and restricting the applicability and effectiveness of magisterial inquiries, an efficient and trusted instrument for independent investigations, including into corruption-related offences."

As regards law enforcement authorities, it said that more notable progress has been achieved. "The Anti-Fraud and Corruption Policy and Procedure continues to evolve and now explicitly sets out additional safeguards against retaliation for whistleblowing, articulating a number of protection measures, and making conflicts of interest subject to mandatory ad-hoc reporting. The new Organisational Mobility Policy has been extended to also cover promotions, involving a co-decision of a body, and specifying that promotions should be based on merit. The recently amended Police Force Business Interests and Additional Occupations Policy and Procedure introduces specific criteria to assess police officers' applications to engage in parallel activities," it said.

It noted, however, that the development of a risk assessment based anti-corruption strategy, sufficient operational independence and political neutrality of the Police Force have still not been completed.