Arts Council’s new legal grant raises conflict of interest questions over Luke Dalli’s law firm

A new government-funded scheme designed to pay artists and cultural organisations for legal advice has immediately raised questions over a potential conflict of interest, with Arts Council Malta’s Executive Chairman, Luke Dalli, remaining a partner in a private law firm that specialises in many of the legal services the grant is intended to finance.

Announced by the Ministry for Arts, Culture and National Heritage, the new ‘Legal and Finance Grant’ will provide up to €3,000 per beneficiary to cover the full cost of professional legal and financial advice.

No total budget for the fund has been published.

The scheme is intended to help artists and cultural organisations obtain advice on contracts, intellectual property, copyright, rights management, taxation, financial planning, insurance and regulatory obligations.

The initiative falls under the political responsibility of Culture Minister Malcolm Paul Agius Galea, who now has ministerial oversight of Arts Council Malta following the recent Cabinet reshuffle. As the minister responsible for the Council, he will ultimately be expected to answer for its governance and the safeguards in place to ensure public confidence in the administration of the new scheme.

Yet the launch has prompted scrutiny because the government agency designing and administering the grant is headed by Dalli, who, despite occupying the highest position within Arts Council Malta, remains a partner at DalliParis Advocates, a private law firm that advertises expertise in entertainment law, intellectual property, copyright, contracts and related legal services – the same areas covered by the new grant.

The Shift sent questions to Dalli asking whether he remains a partner in the firm, whether he declared any potential conflict of interest in relation to the new scheme and whether he recused himself from discussions or decisions concerning its introduction. Dalli did not reply.

The Shift also asked whether DalliParis Advocates, its partners or associates would be eligible to provide legal services financed through the scheme and what safeguards had been put in place to prevent any actual or perceived conflict of interest. No answers were forthcoming.

Last year, The Shift revealed that Dalli’s appointment as Executive Chairman of Arts Council Malta was made despite a directive issued by Prime Minister Robert Abela in 2020 requiring government chief executives and executive chairpersons to dedicate themselves full-time to their public role rather than continue private professional practice.

The directive has been ignored by several ministries and government agencies.

Subsequent reporting also revealed that Dalli’s contract, worth more than €100,000 annually, expressly allows him to continue practising as a lawyer while serving as Executive Chairman.

At the time, Dalli was also representing disgraced former prime minister Joseph Muscat in criminal proceedings.

The Shift also reported that Dalli openly vaunted his Labour Party elections agent tag during the 2026 general election while simultaneously serving as Executive Chairman of Arts Council Malta and presenting programmes on the national broadcaster, raising further questions about public sector standards and political impartiality.

The PBS’s editorial board, chaired by Englebert Grech, has not yet taken any action on Dalli’s blatant disregard for the national broadcaster’s code of ethics and legal obligations.

The newly launched grant was presented by the government as a measure intended to strengthen the professional sustainability of Malta’s cultural and creative sectors.

The scheme was developed following consultations with the Malta Entertainment Industry and Arts Association (MEIA), which welcomed the initiative as a means of improving governance and professional standards within the cultural sector.