Commissioner for Standards in Public Life George Hyzler has said he will be investigating aspects of the Venice Commission report on the rule of law in Malta.
Addressing the inaugural meeting of the parliamentary standing committee to which he will report, Dr Hyzler said he would be looking into concerns raised by the Council of Europe’s rule of law experts on MPs’ ability to scrutinise the government while also holding positions on public bodies, among other issues.
However, answering a question by Opposition MP Simon Busuttil, he said other aspects of the report were beyond his remit.
Dr Hyzler, who was sworn in to the newly-established role last November, said he had already received four complaints against public individuals, three of which were being investigated while the other had been found to be inadmissible.
The bulk of Tuesday’s committee meeting was taken up with questions over how much information about complaints dealt with by the commissioner should be made public.
In particular, MPs expressed concerns and disagreements over whether the commissioner - who is bound by law to secrecy - should disclose cases where an individual is cleared of a complaint against them after the complaint itself has been made public.
The whole purpose of this exercise is to increase transparency and accountability.
“I have no control over the publicity that may be given by third parties, and in cases where there has been some publicity, I think it would be unfair for it not to be clarified that the person has been cleared,” Dr Hyzler said.
He added that while it was important to protect parliamentarians’ interests, the committee had also to remember its responsibility to the public.
“The whole purpose of this exercise is to increase transparency and accountability and we should keep that at the forefront of our thinking,” he said.
Questions were also raised over whether the commissioner should report to the committee on complaints which are ruled inadmissible, or where no investigation is considered necessary, a situation not explicitly considered by the law.
Labour MP Edward Zammit Lewis argued that this information was necessary from a legal point of view to allow the committee to carry out its supervisory function.
Dr Hyzler himself, meanwhile, said that while figures on these cases would be part of his annual report, the question of how much detail should be given had still to be developed further.