Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1544021
17 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 22 MARCH 2026 NEWS changing in Malta's ethics MPs and ministers Public Life Act would overhaul the Code of Ethics for members of parliament for the first time in years. are more controversial rectorships. The new code adds several categories that are not currently required: income from the previous year, virtual curren- cies, outstanding loans owed by the member, and intangible as- sets such as patents, trademarks, and copyrights. The addition of income is the biggest transparency win. To date, MPs have no obligation to declare the amount of mon- ey they made in their profession in the previous year. This is one of the most commonly recom- mended elements in internation- al transparency frameworks. Newly appointed members will be required to file a declaration within one month of taking their seat, ensuring they are brought into line with colleagues from the outset rather than waiting until the following March. Conflicts of interest get their own rules There is also a new dedicated article on conflicts of interest. The current code for MPs has no explicit provision on this beyond a general obligation to avoid im- proper influence. The new code defines conflict of interest, sets out the circumstances of such a conflict, and makes clear that the obligation applies not just to votes but to all parliamentary work, in- cluding committee proceedings and parliamentary questions. Members would be required to register a range of interests, including membership of volun- tary organisations, professional connections to lobbying interests, and trips abroad paid for by par- ties with an interest in legislation before the House. Any profes- sional interest connected to leg- islation before the House would also need to be declared on the floor at the earliest opportunity before a vote on the second read- ing of the relevant bill. The spousal assets question One of the more contentious changes is the removal of the re- quirement to declare the assets of spouses and minor children. Un- der the current code, members whose marriage is government by community of assets must declare their spouse's immovable prop- erty and their minor children's assets alongside their own. The government has dropped this requirement, arguing that it cre- ates a double standard: a mem- ber married under community of assets must declare a spouse's property, while a member who has signed a separation of assets agreement does not. The argument for removing it is coherent but it runs against the grain of international standards, which generally recommend that asset declarations extend to fam- ily members precisely because undeclared family wealth is a well-documented route for ob- scuring conflicts of interest. What changes for ministers Only a single sub-article is be- ing changed in the ministers' code, but it is the most significant change in the entire package. Under the current Second Schedule, ministers are required on appointment to provide the Cabinet Secretary with a full statement of their assets and in- terests, and to update it annually. Any actual or perceived conflict of interest must also be flagged to the Cabinet Secretary. This is a parallel system that works along- side the parliamentary register. The new version strips the as- set and interest declaration ob- ligation out of the ministers' code entirely, leaving only the requirement to flag conflicts of interest to the Cabinet Secretary. The government's argument is that ministers are also MPs, and are therefore already subject to the parliamentary asset register, which will be more detailed once these amendments pass. Before ministers stopped de- claring their assets with the Cab- inet Secretary, ministers declared their income only in the ministe- rial declarations. It is also only in the ministerial declaration that they put forward information on financial invest- ments and bank accounts held by their spouses. This information is not expected of MPs. In this new system, ministers will declare their income in their parliamentary declaration like the rest of their peers. However, all information on investments and bank accounts held by their spouses will not be up for public scrutiny. Does this meet international standards? The expansion of the MPs' code by adding income declarations, closing the gap on conflicts of interest beyond votes, and codi- fying the Nolan principles brings Malta closer to what bodies like GRECO and the OECD recom- mend. The new conflict of inter- est provisions in particular also fill gaps that have previously been flagged in external evaluations. The removal of spousal asset declarations moves in the oppo- site direction. And the consoli- dation of ministerial declarations into the parliamentary system, while administratively tidier, re- duces the number of points at which a member's financial inter- ests are formally checked.