The proposed Commissioner for Standards in Public Life will not be able to probe asset declarations or allegations of ethical breaches made in the past by Cabinet ministers, MPs or those occupying positions of trust, parliament heard today.

The Bill also provides for a standing committee on standards in public life, chaired by the Speaker and consisting of four MPs, two nominated by the Prime Minister and two by the leader of the Opposition.

Speaking this evening, Deputy Prime Minister Louis Grech said that achieving high standards in public life was not only fundamental but needed to be suitably enforced.

Opening the debate on what he described as a "landmark" bill, Mr Grech cited the Nolan report - a 1995 UK report which established key ethical principles for public life - which had underlined the need for integrity and respect for human dignity in the pursuance of public life.

The law will provide a reference for all those appointed to public office, and is based on the British model and on comments made by the GRECO commission report.

Mr Grech noted however that solid ethical legislation could only be effective if operated with integrity. He said that proposed Commissioner for Standards in Public Life would be a leader in the correct and ethical interpretation of laws.

Public trust is not a fair accompli, said the Deputy Prime Minister.

Referring to the appointment of the proposed Commissioner, Mr Grech said that the law envisaged repeated appointment. The Commissioner would be responsible of keeping track of parliamentary attendances and the relative fines for not attending. The office would also be responsible for advice on ethical matters related to MPs or any other publicly-appointed officer. The law would also define and regulate lobbying.

Justice shadow minister Jason Azzopardi said that in Malta, the first Bill in this regard was proposed in the White Paper launched in September 2012 by former Minister Tonio Borg.

The 2012 White Paper had proposed the appointment of a Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards to investigate allegations of abuse of parliamentary privilege, misbehaviour or unethical behaviour by MPs, Dr Azzopardi said.

Opposition leader Simon Busuttil had tabled a private members’ motion in 2013, calling for the appointment of a commissioner and a standing parliamentary committee on the proper behaviour of all holders of public office.

This bill is a landmark and watershed for those who engage in public life, said Dr Azzopardi. Democracy, he said, was not well served when government sought to erode public offices such as this of the Ombudsman.

He criticised government for culling public service officials, for watering down the code of ethics and for the spate of public scandals which he said had cost the government its moral authority.

Dr Azzopardi listed various scandals which had arisen under the current administration as he quoted 22 editorials from various newspapers criticising government for lack of good governance. 

He said that work between government and opposition on this bill was carried out in a spirit of mutual respect and desire for better standards. He said that such respect between MPs was becoming difficult to find and this was eroding the public's trust in MPs.

Dr Justyne Caruana also addressed the house.

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