Tribunal members give definite resignations after MaltaToday appeal

The chairperson and members of the Freedom of Information Appeals Tribunal have tendered their definite resignations, two weeks after MaltaToday filed an appeal against a decision by the Information and Data Protection Commissioner.

The resignations of Edward Debono, a lawyer, and members George Sammut and Jennifer Casingena Harper - for the latter two, their second resignation in 2013 - have been interpreted as a direct refusal to hear any appeals after they were first asked to tender 'courtesy' resignations upon the election of Labour to power back in March.

The tribunal's members had initially 'protested' the request from the new Head of the Civil Service, Mario Cutajar, being of the opinion that the quasi-judicial body should have enjoyed independence from such a decision.

They eventually submitted their resignations, a fact made clear by the secretary of the appeals tribunal when he informed MaltaToday that its appeal - lodged on 25 September - would not be heard since the tribunal's members had already vacated their positions back in March.

On its part, the Ministry for Social Dialogue claimed that while the resignations did take place in March, they had not been accepted, implying that Debono, Sammut and Casingena Harper should have stayed on and heard any appeals on the IDP commissioner's decisions:

"As per standard procedure after a change in government, the chairpersons of the IDP Appeals Tribunal were asked to offer their resignation by the Principal Permanent Secretary. Although the chairpersons of the IDP Appeals Tribunal offered their resignations in March, these were not accepted by the Ministry for Social Dialogue, Consumer Affairs and Civil Liberties. This automatically means that since their resignations were not accepted, they kept their position."

As understood by MaltaToday, the members of the tribunal were less than pleased at learning from this newspaper that the Ministry for Social Dialogue was expecting them to keep hearing appeals after they had first tendered their resignations.

And on its part, the ministry informed this newspaper it was unable to effectively demand that the tribunal members hear the appeal, due to its independence from the executive.

Eventually, Debono and the tribunal's members submitted their definite resignations, "citing other personal commitments as reasons for their resignations. The resignations were received on 2 and 8 October. The ministry immediately started the process so that other individuals may be appointed and start hearing cases straight away".

Complaint

MaltaToday is appealing a decision by the Information and Data Protection Commissioner to uphold the refusal of Automated Revenue Services Management Ltd (ARMS) to publish updated invoices for energy and water bills owed by the Labour and Nationalist Parties.

MaltaToday argues that the commissioner failed to carry out a public interest test on an issue in which both parties have enjoyed favourable terms of repayment of outstanding energy bills, compared to common clients.

ARMS has refused the request, using a blanket provision in the Freedom of Information Act that allows commercial companies not to reveal information on their clients. But MaltaToday is arguing that political parties select electoral candidates who, upon their election, can be appointed to ministerial positions or even parastatal positions to run such bodies like ARMS. Their considerable degree of influence on such government companies was overlooked by the commissioner, MaltaToday said in its appeal.