PN candidate slams civil service ‘grievances unit’ as political ploy

A new 'grievances unit' set up by the chief of the Maltese civil service will be used as an instrument of political retribution, Nationalist candidate for MEP Therese Comodini Cachia said.

"With my experience as a human rights lawyer, I express my incredulity towards this action, which smacks of being a politically motivated move," Comodini Cahica said.

The Office of the Prime Minister is to set up a unit to investigate complaints from public officers and employees who claim they were the victim of an injustice inside the civil service.

The unit will consider all applications presented by applicants who claim they experienced unjust treatment over the past seven years.

The PN candidate said that while she was in favour of the redressing of injustices, she was convinced that the measures of redress would lack objectivity, independence and impartiality. "The setting up of these Units rather than allowing complainants to make use of independent channels such as the courts, tribunals and the Ombudsman continues to undermine public trust in these institutions and indicates the government's negative perception of these democratic institutions," Comodini Cachia said.

The candidate asked whether the government would now implement decisions already taken by tribunals and the Ombudsman's Office which declared that an injustice was committed; how it would ensure that the new units are independent and impartial rather than act as political ploys; who the members will be and what are the objective criteria under which the Units must undertake a review, carry out that review and reach a conclusion.

"Will the conclusions of all complaints be published or only selected conclusions will be made public? What motivations are there behind the Principle Permanent Secretary's decision to restrict this 'opportunity' for occurrences limited to the past seven years?

"Does the Permanent Secretary not consider occurrences older than seven years on equal footing with those happening in the past seven years? Is an injustice suffered at present not equally deserving of redress by the Grievances Units?"

Comodini Cachia said that in the absence of answers to these questions, the units would only be "manipulating victims to serve a political purpose rather than the fulfillment of true justice."

Complaints that have already been dealt by the National Ombudsman can be examined by the grievances unit if the Ombudsman declares that his office's recommendations were not implemented.

The unit will conduct investigations and issue recommendations within two months of receiving the application, unless it requests an extension.