Persons of trust must retain neutrality on political matters – standards czar

People employed in government positions as persons of trust should not comment on matters of political controversy and are obliged to treat others with respect, Malta’s Commissioner for Standards in Public Life has stated.

In a decision on a complaint from Matthew Caruana Galizia, director of the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation, Standards Commissioner George Hyzler said an insult on Facebook by a ministerial person of trust was not acceptable.

The complaint concerned a Facebook post by the head of the Hate Crime and Speech Unit, Dr Joseph Borg, in which he directed an insult at Professor Arnold Cassola over a statement taking to task minister Michael Farrugia.

Borg posted a statement on Facebook, in accompaniment to a MaltaToday article on Cassola’s statement, containing the following remark, directed towards Mr Cassola: ‘Profs Cassola just get a life as the one you have at the moment sucks.’

When he made the Facebook post, Borg was a person of trust in the Ministry for Home Affairs, led by Farrugia.

Hyzler said in his decision that regular government employees in senior roles were obliged to maintain political neutrality. “This obligation also applies to persons of trust at equivalent levels,” he said.

Hyzler said nothing in the Standards in Public Life Act suggests that persons of trust be exempted from any parts of the Code of Ethics for Public Employees and Board Members. “There are sound reasons why persons of trust, particularly those in senior roles, should not be exempted from the requirement of political neutrality which is set out in paragraph 21(1) of the Code of Ethics for Public Employees and Board Members. Like career officials, persons of trust, particularly those in senior roles, should accept that their appointment brings with it limitations on their ability to publicly air their personal views on matters of politics and public policy.”

Hyzler said the distinction between persons of trust and career officials can be further blurred if persons of trust are assigned roles one would normally associate with career officials, as in the case of Dr Borg who served as head of the Hate Crime and Speech Unit.

“The insult directed by Dr Joseph Borg at Prof Cassola did not reflect well on the public administration and on Minister Michael Farrugia, in particular because Dr Borg was serving as head of the Hate Crime and Speech Unit in addition to being a person of trust.”

Hyzler met Dr Borg in the presence of Minister Farrugia and proposed that the case should be concluded on the basis of an apology by Dr Borg. The Commissioner closed the case after receiving this apology.

But Hyzler also said that the Hate Crime and Speech Unit was part of the permanent machinery of government and should not be treated as an extension of the minister’s secretariat. “For this reason the headship of the Unit should not have been assigned to a person of trust,” Hyzler said.

The Commissioner considered a bill which is currently before Parliament, and which is intended to provide a legal basis for appointments on trust.

“The bill cannot achieve this aim in the absence of constitutional amendments because the Constitution does not provide for appointments on trust. “As a result of the bill many persons of trust may cease to be subject to scrutiny by the Commissioner, yet it can potentially lead to a considerable increase in the number of persons of trust employed by the government. This would be to the detriment of standards in Maltese public administration.”