Chief Justice Emeritus Joseph Azzopardi, Commissioner for Standards in Public Life, is recommending that the guidelines on government advertising issued by his office two years ago should be incorporated into law. The history of these guidelines goes back to March 2021 when the previous Commissioner, Dr George Hyzler, referred a case involving an advertisement issued…
Parliament’s Standing Committee on Standards in Public Life has authorised the publication of a report by the Commissioner for Standards about false statements allegedly made by a minister to the media. The case goes back to April 2020, when a journalist asked the Hon. Dr Michael Farrugia, then Minister for Home Affairs, about a meeting…
The Commissioner for Standards in Public Life has concluded that a government-sponsored post on Facebook represents a breach of ethics because it featured a minister. The sponsored post in question appeared on 5 October 2022 in the official Facebook page of the Ministry for Finance and Employment. It consisted of a graphic featuring a photograph…
The Commissioner for Standards in Public Life features in a document entitled Handbook of Good Practices in the Fight Against Corruption, which has been published by the European Commission. The handbook covers measures taken by European Union member states to curb corruption, improve transparency, avoid conflicts of interest, or strengthen ethical standards in public life….
The Office of the Commissioner for Standards in Public Life has taken note of the concerns that have been expressed in the media about the apparent reduction in the funds allocated to this office in the national budget for 2023 compared to the current year. However, the amount of €450,000 in this office’s budgetary allocation…
The Commissioner for Standards in Public Life has issued a report on campaign spending by individual candidates in general elections. The report looks at the costs candidates incur, how campaign spending is regulated, and how candidates report their expenditure. It is the outcome of a landscape review rather than an investigation, and its focus is…
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has issued a report recommending extensive changes to the codes of ethics for ministers, parliamentary secretaries and members of Parliament in Malta. The current codes of ethics take the form of schedules to the Standards in Public Life Act. The first schedule consists of a code of…
The Commissioner for Standards in Public Life has issued his annual report for 2021. The report outlines the role of the Commissioner as set out by the Standards in Public Life Act and the procedures he follows when considering complaints against members of Parliament and persons of trust. The report states that the Standards Commissioner…
On 11 July 2022 the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) published three reports dealing with integrity standards in Malta. One report reviews the operations of the Commissioner for Standards in Public Life; another report addresses the Standards in Public Life Act; and the third report presents proposals for the regulation of lobbying. The…
On 27 June 2022 Parliament’s Standards Committee authorised the publication of a case report by the Commissioner for Standards concerning official advertisements that appeared in a newspaper supplement. The supplement in question had been issued by the newspaper KullĦadd on 16 January 2022 to mark two years since the Hon. Dr Robert Abela became Prime…
