Speaker Anglu Farrugia acted beyond his legal power or authority when blocking the publication of a report into Castille’s “abusive” use of party loyalists as unofficial security, Malta’s Standards Commissioner has warned. 

In a letter to Farrugia, Hyzler explained:

“[I] fear that this ruling could undermine the aim of raising ethical standards that underlies the establishment of my office and that we all aspire to achieve.”

The report, which found the Office of the Prime Minister under Joseph Muscat prima facie guilty of an ethics breach, has been blocked for publication by Farrugia on the grounds that the police investigation into the issue superseded the report by the Commissioner.

This incident had taken place at the peak of a political crisis, right after Muscat addressed a press conference at 3am to announce that Cabinet had rejected a second request for a presidential pardon from Yorgen Fenech, the main suspect in the Daphne Caruana Galizia assassination. A number of journalists were prevented from leaving the room in which the press conference was held.

In his letter, Hyzler lamented that he was never granted the opportunity to even discuss the issue before Farrugia’s ruling.

Had Farrugia done so, Hylzer would have expressed “profound concern” that he would be acting “in a manner that exceeds [his] legal powers” on the basis of “an incorrect premise”.

As Speaker, Hyzler said, Farrugia has authority over proceedings in the House of Representatives. However, he is precluded from interpreting legislation related to the Standards Commissioner and issues within the Standards Committee.

“The law gives the committee the power to oversee and scrutinise the works of the commissioner. This is explicitly for the purpose of ensuring the commission is fulfilling his duties and operating efficiently. this power does not extend to the interpretation of the law, and moreover, it is to be exercised by the committee as a whole, not by its chairperson,” he said.

The Speaker/Chairman can only choose to reject a report on legal grounds, and this can only be exercised by the entire committee.  

In such instances, Hyzler said, the reasons for rejecting should be made public. 

Ultimately, Farrugia’s ruling goes in direct conflict with the remit of the Standards Commissioner.

“For these reasons, it is my firm view that you have been led to issuing a ruling that you do not have the power to issue, hence it is ultra vires (acting beyond one’s legal power or authority). This is particularly ironic considering that the ruling was issued in response to a request claiming that I myself was acting ultra vires,” Hyzler said. 

Hyzler also rubbished Farrugia’s claims that the Commissioner cannot investigate any allegation or matter that is pending before a court or a tribunal. 

As he has identified in his report, the criminal proceedings and his investigation are two distinct and separate matters. Hylzer’s investigation concerns the conduct of then-Prime Minister Joseph Muscat in relation to the treatment of members of the media that evening. Meanwhile, the criminal proceedings were focused on the conduct of three individuals who physically detained the journalists without lawful authority.

“There was no evidence in the criminal proceedings or this investigation that linked the three persons to the conduct of Muscat.”

“Linking Muscat’s action to the criminal proceedings is stretching the application of article 13(3) of the Act and confusing issues,” Hyzler said.

Hyzler clarified that none of the three individuals was investigated by the Standards Commissioner. Rather, they were interviewed and were made aware of and exercised their legal right to avoid testifying.

He made it clear that his report will have no bearing on criminal proceedings and will not prejudice the people concerned. 

“Your ruling seeks to turn article 13(3) into an instrument to protect people from investigation under the Act even though they are not being investigated by the police or involved in any proceedings,” Hyzler said.

He closed by urging the Speaker to publish the report, especially given the ruling that no action will be taken on the report. 

“I am aware that the report has already been made public, but I believe that at the very least it merits being placed in the public domain through official rather than official means,” he said. 

Last July, Muscat was also found in breach of ethics for accepting expensive Petrus wine bottles from murder suspect Yorgen Fenech as a birthday present. In August, the parliamentary committee declared the case closed after endorsing the Commissioner’s conclusions but accepting that Muscat had assumed responsibility already and was no longer an MP.

Using legal advice from Henri Mizzi of Camilleri Preziosi Advocates, Hyzler said that he is able to investigate people who have resigned or been removed. He said that the Speaker’s previous rulings do not affect his ability to investigate alleged breaches.

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