54 public officials facing criminal charges kept in place

Fifty-four public service officials facing criminal charges remain in the civil service despite facing criminal charges.

They include high-ranking officials, including two former permanent secretaries embroiled in the scandal involving three public hospitals.

The information emerged in parliament in response to a question by PN MP Alex Borg, who asked how many civil servants had not been suspended while facing criminal charges since the beginning of the year.

Prime Minister Robert Abela said that in three cases, officials facing criminal charges continued to serve on full-time pay. They were also nominated to serve on selection boards, recommending who should be recruited or promoted within the civil service.

The information emerged amid revelations of a revision of disciplinary measures within the public service last year.

According to long-established rules, civil servants arraigned in court accused of criminal offences, whatever their nature, were automatically suspended on half pay until the court decided their case.

Just before the last MEP elections, in an attempt to lure back disgruntled voters, the prime minister and his principal permanent secretary, Tony Sultana, recommended that many of those suspended on half pay be reinstated.

These included severe cases such as that of Clint Axisa, a Transport Malta official who was reinstated despite allegations of sexual harassment against Transport Malta employees.

In a twist to the culture of impunity in the civil service, The Times of Malta revealed that rules were secretly changed in October 2013, so those suspended would start receiving 80% of their salary instead of the usual 50%.

The change of rules also meant that suspension was no longer a given, but decided by the head of department.

While the prime minister defended these changes yesterday, saying that a suspension now depended on what type of criminal charges the public officers faced, he confirmed that these changes were introduced last year.

Yet, in August, when Abela was dealing with Central Bank Governor Edward Scicluna’s embarrassing refusal to resign, the prime minister made no mention of the new rules.

In an interview with Lovin Malta on 1 August, Abela said that according to the rules, Scicluna was to be suspended on half pay “and treated as all the other members of the public service when facing criminal charges”.

He did not say the rules had changed for civil servants suspended to get 80% of their pay instead of 50%.