Abstract
For many years, Malta did not have a law which specifically dealt with whistleblowing. No law acknowledged or defended whistleblowers. As in other countries, whistleblowers in Malta have generally faced great difficulties and suffered retaliation for their deeds. A few years ago, whistleblowing was acknowledged in a few provisions in employment law but these were rather incomplete and were not supported by any proper structure. After a number of false starts, the Maltese Parliament finally passed a ‘Protection of Whistleblowers Act’ in 2013. This was the first ever comprehensive law on the subject; but is it good enough and do whistleblowers feel safe now? The writer argues that the law does not protect all disclosures and various onerous conditions have been imposed in the law. A prospective whistleblower should seriously consider his position before reporting wrong-doing or corruption in his work place. This chapter concludes that in Malta, despite the recent 2013 Act, whistleblowing remains a very risky and thankless decision.
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Notes
- 1.
He wrote a book on his misadventures, see S Adams, Roche versus Adams (London, Jonathan Cape, 1984).
- 2.
The financial services industry in Malta was then still taking off.
- 3.
Malta Union Of Bank Employees Annual Conference held on the 22 July 1998.
- 4.
G Cini, ‘White collar crime conference’ (23 July 1998) The Times (Malta), p. 17.
- 5.
D Fabri, ‘Political corruption, prescription and whistleblowing’ (30 August 1998) The Sunday Times (Malta), p. 14.
- 6.
ibid.
- 7.
Act No. VIII of 2013, July 2013, Chapter 527 on the Laws of Malta. It was brought into force on 15th September 2013 and is available online at www.justiceservices.gov.mt/LOM.aspx?pageid=24.
- 8.
Bill No. 58 of 2010.
- 9.
J Ameen, ‘Whistleblower Bill by end of the year: two electoral promises’ (24 August 2009) The Times; N Grima, ‘Whistleblower Bill presented’ (1 October 2010) The Malta Independent (front page article); K Sansone, ‘Draft law strives to protect whistleblowers’ (1 October 2010) The Times (Malta) (front page article). See also brief review by Björn Rohde-Liebenau (Transparency International, November 2013, pp 63–65) section on Malta in Whistleblowing in Europe: Legal protections for whistleblowers in the EU. This refers to an earlier report by the same writer (Transparency International, November 2012) Providing an Alternative to Silence: Towards Greater Protection and Support for Whistleblowers in the EU. Country Report: Malta. These country reports preceded the enactment of the 2013 legislation, now in force.
- 10.
Art. 2 (1) definition of ‘employee’.
- 11.
Act No. XXV of 1995, Chapter 386 of the Laws of Malta.
- 12.
Chapter 452 of the Laws of Malta.
- 13.
The Agencies authorized to receive prescribed external disclosures are listed in the First Schedule to the Act.
- 14.
Art. 2.
- 15.
ibid.
- 16.
The term remains undefined.
- 17.
This concession is not an automatic one but depends entirely on the discretion of the adjudicator and of the Attorney General as explained in art. 5 (4).
- 18.
The rule that legal protection is only extended where an internal disclosure, or an attempted disclosure, has been made beforehand, is repeated in Art. 15.
- 19.
It seems that a recent new Bill on whistleblowing in Switzerland raises a similar impediment and has been criticized accordingly: ‘White Collar Crime: Proposed legislation on whistleblowing – de facto ban on reporting to the public?’ (1 December 2014) International Law Office Newsletter.
- 20.
Chapter 248 of the Laws of Malta.
- 21.
Art. 46: ‘46. No court shall require any person mentioned in Art. 23 to disclose, nor shall such person be guilty of contempt of court for refusing to disclose, the source of information contained in a newspaper or broadcast for which he is responsible unless it is established to the satisfaction of the court that such disclosure is necessary in the interests of national security, territorial integrity or public safety, or for the prevention of disorder or crime or for the protection of the interests of justice…’.
- 22.
This concern was identified in K Sansone,’ Whistleblowers who report to the media unprotected’ (19 October 2010) The Times (online version) and later K Aquilina, ‘A whistle-less whistleblower’ (9 April 2014) Malta Today (online version).
- 23.
See the writer’s ‘The Price of Whistle-blowing: the flawed ECJ Decision in Stanley Adams vs Commission of the European Communities (1985)’, Id-Dritt, Vol. XXII, 2012. More recent developments: ‘FIFA whistleblower Pahedra Al-Majid fears for her safety’ (20 November 2014) BBC Sport (online version) and ‘Fifa whistleblowers submit formal complaint over blowing their cover’ (17 November 2014) The Guardian (online version).
- 24.
Art. 11 (2).
- 25.
M Goldstein, ‘Whistle-Blower on Countrywide Mortgage Misdeeds to get $57 Million’ (17 December 2014) The New York Times.
- 26.
K Micallef, ‘Just 48 whistleblower reports sent to helpline’ (12 October 2014) The Times.
- 27.
See also ‘48 whistleblowing reports lodged with Justice Ministry’ (13 October 2014) Malta Today.
- 28.
ibid.
- 29.
It is not stated to whom this must be shown.
- 30.
‘Personal gain’ is not defined.
- 31.
Or even the lack of good faith.
- 32.
Especially in articles 5 and 9.
- 33.
The writer has written more extensively on these aspects in ‘Whistleblowing in Malta: a note on recent developments, proposals and missed opportunities’ (2002) The Company Lawyer Vol. 23 No. 1, p. 30.
- 34.
J Borg, ‘Whistleblowers Act not arbitrary go-ahead to leak information - Justice Minister’ (22 December 2014) The Malta Independent (online version).
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Fabri, D. (2016). The Whistleblowing Dilemma in Malta Continues: A Personal View and Analysis. In: Thüsing, G., Forst, G. (eds) Whistleblowing - A Comparative Study. Ius Comparatum - Global Studies in Comparative Law, vol 16. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-25577-4_9
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