A tale of two headlines

Governments always put the best possible spin on bad news. It comes with the territory, and we, the Great Unwashed, have to grin and bear it.

Friday’s publication of the European Commission’s Rule of Law Report provides a masterclass in that little exercise. The Justice Ministry rushed out a statement proclaiming that Malta’s justice reforms had been “recognised”.

Technically, that is true. The Commission did indeed acknowledge that Malta has established a Commercial Court, reformed the Family Court, and opened additional court facilities. These are perfectly legitimate improvements, and they deserve to be recorded.

But then there was the other headline. The one based on exactly the same report, where we were told that public confidence in the independence of Malta’s judiciary has fallen sharply, though not by the government.

The Commission went on to identify significant shortcomings in tackling high-level corruption, reducing delays, strengthening media freedom and implementing several long-standing recommendations.

Tell us something we didn’t know.  Curiously, that part never quite made it into the government’s celebratory narrative.  One almost has to admire the political cherry-picking, elevated as it was into an art form.

If Brussels praises a new courtroom, issue a press release. If Brussels points out that the public increasingly lacks confidence in the administration of justice, quietly move on, nothing to see here.

And therein lies the real issue.

The Rule of Law Report is not an architectural competition. It is not judging whether the furniture is nicer, whether there are more courtrooms or whether the signage has improved.

It is asking a much more fundamental question: Does the justice system command confidence, function effectively and hold the powerful to account?

The irony is that governments often confuse outputs with outcomes. Creating new institutions is easy. Passing legislation is relatively easy. Opening buildings is positively enjoyable, particularly if there is a ribbon to cut and photographers nearby.

Restoring public confidence is rather more difficult.

Confidence cannot be legislated into existence. It is earned. It comes from seeing the law applied consistently, corruption prosecuted effectively, recommendations implemented rather than endlessly recycled and institutions demonstrating that nobody is above the law.

So, why did the government’s statement need to confine itself to carefully selected paragraphs while ignoring the overall assessment?

The answer is self-evident: the overall picture is considerably less flattering than Abela’s chaps would like us to believe.

That is why the two headlines published yesterday are so revealing.  One describes the report the government wishes had been written.

The other describes the report that actually was.