Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1436880
6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 12 DECEMBER 2021 NEWS POSTS FOR LAWYER WITH THE OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL (Jobsplus Vacancy No. 369626, Permit Nos. 273/2021) The Office of the Attorney General Agency is inviting applications for Lawyers to carry out prosecution and related duties. The selected candidates will be employed on a full-time indefinite term basis, subject to a probation period, and will be required to work for a minimum of forty hours per week. Applicants must be in possession of a warrant to practice the profession of Advocate and, must also have at least one year experience in the practice of the profession covered by a warrant. POSTS FOR TRAINEE LAWYER WITH THE OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL (Jobsplus Vacancy No. 376134, Permit Nos. 689/2021) The Office of the Attorney General Agency is inviting applications for Trainee Lawyers to carry out prosecution and related duties. The selected candidates will be employed on a full-time indefinite term basis, subject to a probation period, and will be required to work for a minimum of forty hours per week. Applicants must have completed their U.O.M. law degree and are qualified as M.Adv or LL.D. ______________________________________________________________ _____________ Applications must quote relevant Jobsplus Vacancy Reference, include a detailed CV, and should be addressed to: The Administration Office of the Attorney General, No. 53, Admiralty House, South Street, Valletta VLT 1101 or emailed to ag@attorneygeneral.mt and should be submitted by not later than Friday 7th January 2022 at 13:00 hrs. Haphazard asset declarations from MPs require overhaul LUKE VELLA NO verifications have yet tak- en place on MPs' asset declara- tions, despite an exercise first launched back in 2019 by the Commissioner for Standards in Public Life. George Hyzler issued clarifica- tion letters to 18 MPs from both sides of the House for their asset declarations in 2019, with none of these cases resulting in an in- vestigation. The standard template for as- set declarations by Maltese MPs remains a haphazard one: assets like shares, bonds or properties are never listed with correspond- ing values, and the only spousal assets MPs are obliged to delcare are properties. Unlike the anti-money laun- dering obligations for political- ly-exposed persons (PEPs), the lack of detail in these declara- tions does not allow for a proper assessment of MPs' net wortżh before and after they depart from politics. "The verification of the decla- rations of assets by MPs, unlike an investigation, is a continuing exercise and is not publicised unless it forms part of an inves- tigation (which may result in a formal finding of misconduct in a report submitted to Parlia- ment's Standards Committee)," Standards Commissioner direc- tor Charles Polidano said. Information included in dec- larations made by MPs, is de- posited with the Speaker of the House, and then aggregated along with their income tax statements, which are submitted to the Speaker by the Commis- sioner for Revenue. "Particular consideration is given to movements in bank ac- counts that appear at odds with the MPs' earnings, investments, loans, sale and purchase of prop- erty, and media reports," Poli- dano said. "Where it appears necessary, the Commissioner requests fur- ther information through letters of clarification. All MPs who re- ceived such requests have replied with the information requested." Hyzler had already circulated a questionnaire inviting MPs to provide information designed to give a better picture of the finan- cial situation of each member in 2019. "The intention at the time was to avoid unnecessary investi- gations. Unfortunately, this was considered as a request for infor- mation that went beyond what MPs were obliged to provide in the declarations made out to the Speaker and Government MPs did not respond," Polidano said. He argued that the main limi- tation of the verification exercise is the absence of information on the spouse's income or property. Polidano said MPs are often asked for explanations about changes in their financial po- sition, which would be unnec- essary had information about the spouse's income been made available to the Commissioner in the first place. In July 2020, Hyzler published draft guidelines together with a proposed codes of ethics that to oblige MPs to declare the finan- cial interests of their spouses, partners and dependent family members. The proposed new codes have not yet been dis- cussed by the Committee for Standards. The proposed guidelines for members of the House of Rep- resentatives incorporated ele- ments such as requirements for MPs not to expose themselves to any risk of being placed under undue pressure and influence, a provision obliging members not to abuse the power and privileg- es, a register for gifts, benefits and hospitality, and a register of interests for registration of financial and non-financial in- terests. Some of the proposed guide- lines for ministers was for re- volving doors rules that restrict their employment for a period of three years after leaving office, requiring them to record their assets and financial interests, all relevant communications with lobbyists in a transparency regis- ter, refusal of gifts, benefits and hospitality for themselves or for members of their families, avoid associating with individuals who could place them under any ob- ligation or inappropriate influ- ence, and avoid conducting of- ficial business through unofficial email accounts. As part of Hyzler's launch of a project to improve the Mal- tese integrity and transparen- cy framework, the Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) will consider the pro- posed codes, as well as the pro- cess for collecting and verifying declarations of assets by minis- ters and members of Parliament, to come out with their recom- mendations.