Further clarification needed on oversight responsibilities in Persons of Trust Bill - Hyzler
Further clarification should be made on who will keep an eye out for any wrongdoings and investigate people in positions of trust in the newly proposed Persons of Trust Bill, Standards Commissioner George Hyzler said in a parliamentary committee.
The Committee for the Consideration of Bills is currently
going over the aforementioned Bill, which was first presented to Parliament in
July 2020. The Standards Commissioner had issued a report highlighting a number
if concerns.
Most of Monday’s debate revolved around the terms Persons of
Trust and Positions of Trust. The government says people employed in Positions
of Trust usually come from the public service, so they fall under the Public
Service Commission. People of Trust, on the other hand, can be employed from
the public sector. The Bill proposes that these would fall under the oversight
of the Standards Commissioner. The PN is arguing that both should fall under
the Commissioner.
But Hyzler argued during the meeting that, “a Minister is
unlikely to report an employee to the Public Service Commissioner in practice.”
In practice, they would likely be reprimanded privately, he said. “If people
think that someone from a ministry is going to send them to the PSC, we are
fooling ourselves.”
The Standards Commissioner also pointed out that the
discrepancy of who keeps an eye on persons of trust and positions of trust
should be further clarified, as it is rather vague.
He also pointed out the people who work in the public sector
and are then employed in ministries automatically enter into the political
sphere, and due to this, would perhaps merit added scrutiny.
“Whoever is in the public sector and is then employed in a
ministry has a different role to play in society, as people employed in
ministries, due to the nature of their job, have a somewhat political role.”
He suggested that “perhaps there needs to be a separate code
of ethics for those who fall under this category.”
PN MP Karol Aquilina said the Persons of Trust Bill is a
regression and leaves out people termed as ‘positions of trust’ from being
investigated by the Standards Czar.
PN MP Comodini Cachia added that, “the Opposition’s
objection is based on a concept on whether we want to strengthen ethics from
persons who are chosen to serve the interest of the public.”
Comodini Cachia said that, in light of recent events, where
Keith Schembri was charged with corruption and money laundering and was also
refused bail, this is not the message the country should be giving out.
“The amendment that the minister is proposing disqualifies
certain people from being scrutinised. This is exactly the message that
Parliament should not send in light of recent events.”
Hyzler's report
Persons of trust is “generally understood as referring to
political appointees … individuals who have been employed by the government of
the day without a call for applications. However, the same term as defined in
the Act is narrower in scope. Not all persons who hold appointments on trust
necessarily fall within the jurisdiction of the Standards Commissioner,” The
Commissioner for Standards in Public Life’s report stated.
“The government reserves this term for those who are engaged
directly from outside the public administration.”
On the other hand, positions of trust are “those who were
already employed in public administration before being engaged in secretariats
or associated units.”
Some of the main issues that the report highlighted can be
split into three. First, “there is no requirement that those appointed on trust
should be qualified for the vacancies they fill.”
“On the contrary, the logic of the bill dictates that the
qualification requirements should be waived (although the bill does not spell
this out) since the aim is to fill vacancies for which qualified people are not
available.”
Secondly, the report also highlighted that the English and
Maltese versions of the proposed Bill vary in their meaning, where although in
the English text it says that “persons of trust in secretariats will be subject
to the Act regardless of the nature of their duties,” it does not include
secretariate staff to be considered as persons of trust unless they are acting
as consultants. This has now been resolved.
Finally, the report noted that persons in positions of trust
would be no longer subject to the Standards in Public Life Act. “This too
represents a step backwards,” he said.
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