The Ombudsman has called for a mechanism to ensure that any refusal to divulge information related to public administration is fully justified.

“The right to deny information should be the exception and not the rule,” Ombudsman Joseph Said Pullicino said in the Ombudsman 2015 report.

This call was made in the wake of what Dr Said Pullicino described as “frequent” complaints that legitimate information requests were being turned down or processed very slowly, for reasons that were not justifiable, even within the wide parameters of the law.

The right to deny information should be the exception

“There should be a protocol that establishes a mechanism on how the administration shall inform, in confidence but quickly, the highest authorities (the President and the Opposition leader) of the matter which should not be divulged to the public in the national interest,” the Ombudsman said.

Such matters include issues related to national security, foreign relations, fiscal policy and matters of public economic interest, he said. Dr Said Pullicino remarked that this practice should be followed “by right and not as a concession”.

Another idea floated by the Ombudsman was establishing a separate mechanism to refer to Parliament any disputes arising from different interpretations of the law, by his office and public entities.

The government and Ombudsman have been at loggerheads for months over which entity has jurisdiction to probe army complaints over pensions, pay and promotions.

The Ombudsman also expressed reservations about a number of boards established soon after Labour was elected to power to probe complaints in the army, Air Malta, Enemalta and other public entities.

Such boards are not autonomous and independent from the entity that established them and so do not enjoy the same independence and impartiality of the Ombudsman’s Office, he noted.

These boards should also follow clear guidelines to ensure transparency else they might fuel the “popular perception” that to seek redress one has to go to people in power rather than entities vested with the power to administer justice, he warned.

Office closes 323 cases between January and August

Between January and August of this year, the Ombudsman’s Office – which includes the commissioners for education, environment and health – concluded 323 cases, of which 24 were justified and 59 were deemed not justified.

The remaining cases were either solved in due course, given advice, deemed as trivial or expired, or else did not fall under the jurisdiction of the Office.

During the same period 360 new cases were filed.