Law Commissioner now ‘consultant’ on justice reform

Franco Debono, the former Nationalist MP, is not only the government's Commissioner for Laws, but also the government's consultant on justice reform.

According to the lawyer, he is serving as the government's consultant on justice reform, which already has a commission led by judge emeritus Giovanni Bonello, formerly of the European Court of Human Rights.

The commission on the reform of justice has authored several reports on legislative changes to Maltese law and constitutional reform.

Debono has also authored a prospective bill on party financing, the reforms of which will regulate donations to political parties.

Speaking on TVM's Reporter, presented by Saviour Balzan, Debono said the new laws on transparency should encourage genuine donors to come forward with support for their party.

The White Paper on party financing proposes rules that will regulate most forms of donations to political parties, although not on their commercial interests and companies. It also proposes a revision of the paltry amounts that electoral candidates are allowed to spend in an electoral campaign, and prohibits donations above €50,000.

For the first time ever, political parties will be obliged to declare and register donations above €10,000, while any donations above €50,000 emanating from the same source will be prohibited.

Nationalist MP Francis Zammit Dimech, who is running for MEP, took the cue of the White Paper to criticise the way the government asked the Commissioner for Lands to drop a court case against the Labour Party to reclaim Australia Hall in Pembroke, saying this had amounted to a €10 million gift for the party. "It is unjust that we limit party financing, when the party in government has been given a gift such as Australia Hall. There needs to be a level-playing field."

On her part, Labour MEP candidate Miriam Dalli said it was unacceptable for the former Nationaliss administration to have had its own MP, Franco Debono, propose a private member's bill on party financing without ever having introduced it into law.

The white paper is proposing that the small amounts candidates are currently allowed to spend in an electoral campaign be revised upwards. The ceiling for general elections is set to increase from €1,400 to €25,000.

The proposed ceiling for European elections is €50,000 while that for local elections is €5,000.

Debono, who had authored a draft law when a parliamentary assistant under the previous administration, was part of the working group which included parliamentary secretary for justice Owen Bonnici, the Attorney General Peter Grech and Malta's representative on the Council of Europe Group of States against Corruption (GRECO), Lara Lanfranco.

Reporter is aired live every Monday at 6:55pm on TVM. The programme is repeated on TVM2 on Monday at 10:15pm.