Malta has only implemented "satisfactorily or dealt with in a satisfactory manner" two of the twenty-three recommendations made in 2019 by the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO).
The Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) was established in 1999 by the Council of Europe to monitor States' compliance with the organisation's anti-corruption standards.
This latest update compliance report published yesterday (24 May ) deals with "Preventing corruption and promoting integrity in central governments (top executive functions, PTEF) and law enforcement agencies (LEA)".
GRECO said in its conclusions that 12 recommendations have been partly implemented and nine have not been implemented.
As regards persons entrusted with top executive functions (PTEFs), it said substantial reforms have been initiated by the authorities.
"New functions have been given to the Commissioner for Standards of Public Life regarding investigation of suspected violations of the integrity rules, reporting on possible corruption cases and seeking judicial review in respect of decisions not to prosecute.
"Promising legal amendments have been adopted to streamline the criminal justice system to combat corruption, notably, by gradually transferring the prosecuting function from the Police to the Attorney General, disconnecting the prosecuting and advisory functions of the latter, etc. A "cooling-off" period of up to two years has also been put in place between public-to-private sector employments.
"However, most of these measures and initiatives are still to be implemented in practice and several significant shortcomings are yet to be addressed."
The report continued: "The development of an over-arching anti-corruption strategy, built on a risk assessment in respect of the Government and its top executive officials has not yet been initiated.
"The Commissioner for Standards in Public Life has not been vested with any power to impose additional sanctions for violations discovered, and the function of confidential advice has still not been dissociated from the Commissioner's competences.
"Transparency of the legislative process at the government level requires further improvement: some measures to facilitate public consultation through electronic access are underway, but they have not led to tangible progress so far.
"The accelerated adoption of constitutional amendments in July 2020 represents a more recent illustration of the need for greater transparency in the legislative process, including meaningful public consultations."
The report further highlighted that "safeguards should be put in place to limit the number of appointments of ‘persons of trust' in the Government to an absolute minimum, and these positions should be subject to the same integrity requirements and supervision as other PTEFs.
"No measures have been taken to introduce ad hoc disclosure when conflicts of interest occur in respect of top executive officials and there are no procedures to manage such situations. In addition, regulation of lobbying and the disclosure of contacts between top executives and third parties is yet to be accomplished, and plans to establish an Integrity Unit to support public office-holders in solving ethical dilemmas have not materialised."
