Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1204548
12 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 26 JANUARY 2020 NEWS THE political bickering sur- rounding the appointment of the police commissioner may appear recent but for police historian Eddie Attard it is nothing new. "The politics surrounding the appointment and removal of the police commissioner has existed forever," Attard said. It has always been the Prime Minister's prerogative to appoint the police commissioner and At- tard cannot see it otherwise. Attard is averse to the proposal made by the Nationalist Party to have the police chief chosen by a two-thirds parliamentary majori- ty. "God forbid a police commis- sioner has to be removed by a two-thirds majority… look at what happened when the PN government wanted to remove a judge who was not going to work and could not obtain the neces- sary two-thirds in Parliament," Attard said. For him, it all boils down to making a good choice, something that former human rights judge Giovanni Bonello told The Malta Independent last week. Reacting to the government's proposal to change the method of appointment by introducing a call for applications, Bonello said despite the positive move that ap- pears to reduce the Prime Minis- ter's unfettered powers, the out- come remained the same: "The bottom line remains exactly the same – he [the Prime Minister] hires, he fires." But Bonello insisted that it was people, not systems, that played a determining factor. "A perfect system in the hands of crooks works far worse than a flawed system in the hands of people of integrity… What those who re- spect good governance should aspire to is solely entrusting the workings of the state to upright officials," Bonello was quoted. He said that only time will tell whether the government's pro- posal would give better results. The Venice Commission's opinion in 2018 did not speak of a two-thirds majority to choose the police commissioner. On the contrary, it suggested a pub- lic call and even opened up the possibility of the Prime Minister or the President having a veto on the name selected by the board evaluating the applications. Within this context, the gov- ernment's suggestion appears to be closer to the Venice Com- mission's proposal than the PN's two-thirds option. However, the context of mis- trust in public institutions that has been building over the past few years cannot be ignored, es- pecially after the shocking court developments in relation to Daphne Caruana Galizia's mur- der. This is why the PN's two-thirds option has a sweet sound to it. Robert Abela's leadership rival Chris Fearne had even embraced it during his campaign. The two-thirds option may give the police commissioner security of tenure and the moral authority to appear politically impartial but it can also create problems if the head of a disciplined force goes against government policy and can't be removed. Whatever direction is taken, the debate is bound to be intense. 1. How does Malta appoint the police commissioner The police commissioner is ap- pointed by the Prime Minister in accordance with the law regu- lating the police force and holds office for a period of five years. The commissioner is eligible for re-appointment. The law gives the Prime Minister unfettered discretion to appoint and remove the police commissioner. 2. The Venice Commission opinion In its opinion on Malta's rule of law structures released in December 2018, the Council of Europe's Venice Commission suggested the introduction of a "public competition" for the post of police commissioner. The commission also proposed that the "appointing authority (the Prime Minister or President) should be bound" by the results of the evaluation of that competi- tion. However, the Venice Com- mission also gave some leeway, suggesting that the appointing authority may have the power of veto against the selected candi- date. The commission outlined the importance of having a police force that enjoys the public's confidence and is "perceived as politically neutral in the service of the State and the professional, unbiased, enforcement of the law and the protection of the citizen". 3. The PN's changing proposal The Nationalist Party's latest Choosing the chief in blue A game of politics Top cop file JOHN RIZZO 2001-2013 Served under Eddie Fenech Adami and Lawrence Gonzi PETER PAUL ZAMMIT 2013-2014 • Served under Joseph Muscat, contract terminated KURT SANSONE How Abela plans to change the system of appointing a police commissioner 1. Public call with short-list of two determined by Public Service Commission (centre) Louis Naudi, chairman, Public Service Commission. From left to right: Vincent Piccinino , deputy chairperson Marie-Lourdes Grech , Franco Masini, and Carmel Herrera "God forbid a police commissioner has to be removed by a two-thirds majority… look at what happened when the PN government wanted to remove a judge who was not going to work and could not obtain the necessary two-thirds in Parliament"