Commissioner for Standards in Public Life is appointed, at last
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Former Parliamentary Secretary George Hyzler has been sworn in as the first ever Commissioner for Standards in Public Life. The post was established under the Standards for Public Life Act which came into force on October 30. Dr Hyzler, a former NationalistCommissioner for Standards in Public Life is appointed, at last
Former Parliamentary Secretary George Hyzler has been sworn in as the first ever Commissioner for Standards in Public Life. The post was established under the Standards for Public Life Act which came into force on October 30. Dr Hyzler, a former Nationalist MP and former president of the Chamber of Advocates, will investigate breaches of an ethical nature committed by members of Parliament and civil servants engaged on a position-of-trust basis. The law, approved in March last year, also provides for the establishment of a parliamentary committee empowered to propose sanctions against offending legislators, even though the House would have the final say on what course of action to take, if any. The committee is also empowered to scrutinize the MPs’ declaration of assets and to probe any unethical behaviour. The idea of having an ethical behaviour watchdog for MPs goes back to the final days of the PN government in 2012, when then deputy prime minister Tonio Borg presented a Bill in Parliament. However, the dissolution of Parliament a few months later meant the Bill could not move ahead, until, in May 2014, the Labour government made its own proposal, which was very similar to... Read more