A review of the code of ethics of ministers and parliamentary secretaries will be conducted by the new designate civil service head, Mario Cutajar, and will then be approved by Cabinet itself, The Times has learnt.

The current code includes Cabinet procedure, ministerial responsibilities, travel and private interests

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat recently said that the code of ethics, drawn up in 1994, had to be updated to reflect today’s realities, though he did not elaborate on what this meant.

In replies to questions by The Times, the Office of the Prime Minister said Mr Cutajar, who will also take over from Godwin Grima as Cabinet secretary, would set up a commission “in the coming days” to review the code and draw up a fresh one.

The commission will decide on a time frame for the review, which should be done in an expedited manner, according to the Office of the Prime Minister.

“The code of ethics will then be approved by the Cabinet,” the spokesman added.

Until the new code is approved, all the ministers and parliamentary secretaries are bound by the present set of guidelines, which was composed during the second legislature of former Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami.

The current code, which can be accessed on Parliament’s website, includes Cabinet procedure, ministerial responsibilities, travel and private interests. It specifies, for example, that once a minister is appointed, it is expected of him not to continue his private work but there has been speculation that the changes could do away with this.

“He should devote his whole time to his official duties. The prohibition covers also consultancies, attendance at offices/clinics to give professional advice, etc., even if the work is not remunerated,” the code says.

Speaking during an interview on the party’s radio station, Nationalist Party leader Lawrence Gonzi argued that it would be wrong to allow ministers or parliamentary secretaries to do private work while in office because their activity should focus exclusively on government business.

This would also ensure that there was no breach of ethics and no conflict of interest.

The code also stipulates that ministers should not accept gifts or services “such as might be deemed to create an obligation, real or imaginary”.

It stresses that ministers should avoid conflicts of interest.