A total of 48 cases including a handful related to the smart meter scandal were deemed serious enough and merited a follow-up under the Whistleblower Act.

However, this number only includes cases reported to the Justice Ministry since January.

This was announced during a half-day seminar held to evaluate the experience gained in the first year since the introduction of this law. 

Justice Minister Owen Bonnici said that a significant number of cases could not be followed up as the whistleblower was not an employee, and so could not be offered protection.

Dr Bonnici was reacting to a suggestion from the floor to amend the law, to make it possible for every every citizen, and not just employees in the government and private sector, to receive this kind of protection.

Another suggestion was to have a centralised unit to handle reports, as the current set up was described as fragmented.

The justice minister said the government would be looking at these proposals, including the one made by Opposition spokesman Jason Azzopardi to extend this law to members of disciplined forces, such as the army and the police force.

Dr Bonnici said the Whistleblower Act, the law on party financing which was still being debated in Parliament and the time-barring on corruption charges for politicians, were three major steps which this government took to increase accountability and promote good governance.