Three NGOs have urged the European Commission to maintain close scrutiny of Malta's rule of law, raising concerns over the country's justice system, anti-corruption framework, media freedom and the government's implementation of key reforms, a statement said.
Representatives of NGOs aditus Foundation, Repubblika and the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation met with European Commissioner Michael McGrath on Thursday to discuss what they described as persistent shortcomings affecting democratic institutions and the protection of fundamental rights in Malta.
In a joint statement, the organisations said a significant part of the discussion focused on Malta's justice system, which they described as remaining costly and excessively slow for victims and their families despite repeated commitments to reform.
They also raised concerns over the continued lack of digitalisation in the courts, despite EU funding intended to improve the efficiency of the justice system.
The organisations further expressed concern about the difficulty of accessing data on criminal court proceedings, saying this makes it challenging to assess progress and identify persistent shortcomings.
They called for criminal case data to be included in the EU Justice Scoreboard to improve transparency and monitoring of Malta's court performance.
The meeting also addressed judicial independence, with the organisations arguing that the appointment of the Chief Justice should be determined by members of the judiciary rather than politicians to strengthen public confidence in the independence and impartiality of the courts.
They also discussed the government's proposed changes to the appointment of members of quasi-judicial tribunals, describing the draft legislation as a missed opportunity to strengthen the independence and impartiality of such bodies, the statement said.
The organisations also raised concerns about what they described as the government's failure to implement the recommendations of the public inquiry into the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia.
Nearly five years after the inquiry's report was published, many of its recommendations remain either partially implemented or unimplemented, reflecting what the organisations described as a continued lack of political will to address the systemic failures identified by the inquiry board.
The groups also voiced concerns over "the weakening" of Malta's anti-corruption framework, citing the removal of the right of individuals to request magisterial inquiries before the criminal court, the termination of money laundering prosecutions through tax settlements and changes to asset-freezing measures in money laundering cases.
The NGOs said that these developments continue to exacerbate Malta's long-standing failure to secure convictions in high-profile corruption cases.
The NGOs also criticised the "near absence" of engagement between Maltese authorities and civil society, particularly in relation to the European Commission's recommendation for greater public participation in the legislative process.
The European Commission informed the organisations that it had communicated their request to be consulted on proposed legislation regulating NGOs and establishing a National Human Rights Institution, the statement said.
The organisations said Commissioner McGrath also assured them that he would convey to the Maltese authorities their wish to engage in discussions on rule of law issues in the public interest.
The NGOs thanked Commissioner McGrath for the meeting and said they looked forward to seeing their recommendations translated into concrete action by the Maltese government.