Six months after saying that a new ministerial code of ethics would be published “imminently”, Justice Minister Owen Bonnici yesterday declined to give a time frame, saying it would be published at the “opportune moment”.

Dr Bonnici was yesterday asked whether the code had been put on the back burner, as it had been pledged as far back as May 2013.

“Following an internal debate on the initial draft, some clarifications were sought and minor revisions were carried out,” he said.

A review of the present code of ethics was ordered by the Prime Minister at the height of the controversy surrounding his decision to allow former parliamentary secretary Franco Mercieca to keep his private medical practice, in breach of the code.

Joseph Muscat had said the code was drafted about 20 years earlier in different circumstances and was “tailor-made” for lawyers who were allowed to keep lecturing at the University. At that time he had indicated the review was moving at a fast pace and the first draft was due to be discussed by Cabinet.

In November, Dr Bonnici said the code would be published “soon”, six months later it became “imminent”, and now when it is “opportune”.