An evaluation report on the findings of a Council of Europe anti-corruption mission to Malta should be published in the coming days, the Times of Malta was told.
A spokesman for the Prime Minister said the report was being reviewed by the Attorney General. The report was drawn up by Greco, the Group of States against Corruption.
“The Greco evaluation was received in the past hours and, as per standard procedure, is being reviewed by the Attorney General’s office. The government will be consenting its publication, like it has always done, in the coming days once the process is finalised,” the spokesman said on Wednesday evening.
The report was approved during a meeting in Strasbourg last week when the government was “invited” to authorise its publication, as is normal procedure.
Read: Anti-corruption body Greco to visit Malta a year early
Malta has always published such reports and, according to political observers, it was very rare that a member state would refuse to release such reports.
Being reviewed by the Attorney General’s office
According to Council of Europe sources, the report is likely to be very critical of the Maltese government and reflect the stand taken by international bodies on the state of Malta’s rule of law and the drop in ranking in Transparency International’s corruption perception index.
During its recent visit to Malta earlier this year, Greco’s mission focused on corruption prevention measures by the central government, including the top executive, and the law enforcement agencies.
The last evaluation report by Greco on Malta, in 2014, had noted that handling interpersonal relationships and addressing real or potential conflicts of interest were clearly critical challenges.
It had called for the introduction of proper laws governing rules on gifts to MPs, misuse of public resources, misuse of confidential information, revolving doors and third party contracts.
The government last week announced plans to reform the office of the Attorney General and other institutions in the wake of the latest critical reports on the state of the rule of law in Malta, particularly by the Venice Commission and the European Commission.
Justice Minister Owen Bonnici said the government wanted to change the way members of the judiciary were appointed, a point raised by the Venice Commission, among others, but he stopped short from giving a time frame.