Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1161926
4 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 1 SEPTEMBER 2019 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 While the present system does allow for a level of scruti- ny of Malta's elected officials, the form on which the infor- mation is submitted isn't very clear about the way in which it must be presented. This was abundantly clear to those who attempted to make sense of this latest contro- versy. While some ministers broke down their income by source, others simply gave a global figure. Some, like the Prime Minister, simply declared their income to be "Prime Minister's salary". In order to ensure better scrutiny and less confusion Hyzler said he would also like to see changes in the way these declarations are made. "We will be making propos- als to change the form that is sent by the Speaker to the members of parliament," the commissioner said. The decision on whether or not to change the current form on which assets are de- clared will ultimately be the Speaker's. Declarations must be consistent in order to facilitate scrutiny While there is no global standard on how public of- ficials should declare their income, there are some core principles which should be ad- hered to in order for a system to be truly effective, Emilia Berazategui, Global Advocacy Coordinator at Transparency International told MaltaTo- day. "As a general rule such dec- larations should include both officials' assets – their prop- erty, valuables, financial port- folios and other sources of in- come – as well as declarations about gifts and sponsorships," Berazategui said. She said it was essential that any system require declara- tions to be as comprehensive and as standardised as possi- ble. "It is important because if civil society or the press want to have some form of over- sight over what government and its officials are doing, they must have accurate informa- tion that is presented in the same way across the board," she stressed. "You can't have a situa- tion where an official gives a breakdown of their sources of income one year and then provide a global figure the next." Asked whether the require- ment to declare one's assets should be extended to other government officials, Berazat- egui said that those occupying senior roles should always be required to make such public declarations. "This also applies to those who might not be in a senior position but who, nonethe- less, occupy positions where it is important for the public to have access to this type of information. A good example is people working in public procurement," she said Malta's present declaration of assets system had also been flagged by the Council of Eu- rope's Group of States Against Corruption (GRECO) which noted in its fifth evaluation round on Malta, that stricter controls were necessary on the "ancillary activities of top officials, including their in- volvement in legal construc- tion and offshore operations, conflicts of interest [and] dec- laration of assets". "There is a need to review the declaratory obligations in place for people entrusted with top executive functions, so that the more detailed and specific requirements set forth in respect of ministers and parliamentary secretaries apply to a broader number of categories of such persons. GRECO also stressed that the declaration of assets should also be extended to spouses, beyond assets that are a part of their community of acquests. Officials' right to privacy While one could argue that the public should be able to access all information about the people who are signing off on deals involving taxpayer money, there is also an argu- ment to be made about offi- cials' right to privacy. "It depends on the coun- try and how they balance the right to access to information and the individual's right to privacy," Berazategui said. She said that while some countries might decide that all declared information should be made public, others might decide that a section of the declaration should be scrutinised by an independent authority internally. Berazategui also stressed that for an asset declaration system to be truly effective, an independent body with the necessary human and finan- cial resources was needed to be able to verify the data. "Otherwise you will have many declarations with- out having the financial and human resources to verify whether the information listed in them is correct," she said. Moreover, Berazategui not- ed that there must also be a "credible regime of punitive sanctions" in the case of late submissions or misreporting of information. NEWS Standards czar to get MPs in line on assets "We will be making proposals to change the form that is sent by the Speaker to the members of parliament" George Hyzler (left) takes his oath as parliamentary standards commissioner