As minister, Caruana praised the Standards law. Now she’s filing a constitutional claim

Former education minister Justyne Caruana has filed a consitutional claiming claiming her right to fair hearing was breached by the Standards Commissioner, after she was found guilty of an ethics breach.

Caruana resigned this week, after the Standards Commissioner found she had acted in breach of procurement rules when she gifted her partner Daniel Bogdanovic a €15,000 contract.

Caruana, who as a Labour MP voted in favour of the Standards in Public Life Act, is now the first MP to file a constitutional case claiming the law itself does not guarantee its subjects a fair hearing. She will not even run for election in 2022.

But in 2016, she was one of the ministers who lauded the structure of the law and its checks and balances to guarantee the rights of subjects investigated by the Commissioner for Standards in Public Life.

LISTEN TO JUSTYNE CARUANA’s parliamentary intervention on this link at 2:46:00

While the constitutional case is ongoing, the Standards Commissioner’s report will also be debated by MPs from the parliamentary committee for standards in public life, which body is tasked to reprimand an MP found gulity of an ethics breach.

Caruana is claiming that although the Standards Commissioner informed her as to the subject of the investigation – a consultancy contract for her partner Daniel Bogdanovic – the MP is complaining that she was not aware as to the “content of the complaint” filed to George Hyzler by complainants Arnold Cassola and Alison Bogdanovic, ex-wife of Daniel Bogdanovic.

Caruana claims she was “not fully aware” of the allegations that were being investigated, despite MaltaToday’s report on the €15,000 contract having been the spark for the complaint.

On 1 October, Hyzler met with Caruana after having heard all witnesses, to give her disclosure on his findings. Caruana claims she was giving “limited discosure” by being given access to four volumes of evidence that could only be consulted inside Hyzler’s office.

The Standards Commissioner is not obliged to give subjects a copy of this evidence.

Hyzler subsequently recommended to MPs to publish his report, as well as refer it to the Commissioner of Police to investigate the €15,000 consultancy, as well as the role of other civil servants in covering up for the minister’s decision; as well as referring to the head of the civil service.

Caruana claims this breached her right to a fair hearing, and that the Standards Commissioner was oubling up as both an investigator as well as having the power to recommend an ethics breach for criminal investigation. “The Commissioner is both prosecutor and judge, with absolute discretion and control on the testimonies of the witnesses, which testimonies serve as the basis of his conclusions. The Commissioner is effectively given unfettered discretion from beginning to end. This breaches the rights of an investigated person, to be investigated by an impartial and independent person.”

Caruana also complained that the law regulating the Standards Commissioner does not allow subjects to invoke the right to be silent.

“As is her right, Justyne Caruana is contesting the powers of the Standards Commissioner in Court,” said Arnold Cassola, one of the complainants who instigated the Standards investigation. “The question is: Why is she contesting this now when she voted in favour of the Act in Parliament, on 22nd March 2017? Was she forced to vote in favour against her will in 2017? Or is she just being opportunistic now to try and cover up for her present abuse of power?”

The civil society NGO Repubblika accused Caruana of taking the Maltese public for fools.

“It was Caruana herself who on 11 July 2016 in parliament described this law as a ‘monument to government’... she herself said during the second reading that the administration had “taken the utmost care in observing the principles of natural justice, basic and fundamental principles in all judicial and quasi-judicial proceedings. We paid attention to the rule of equity, which is being scrupolously considered here to make sure we established procedures that cannot prejudice any party’s rights.”

Caruana had also said in the House that the Standards in Public Life Act carried “checks and balances that elevated the honour of the House, giving the Commissioner the fullest and strongest powers to investigate allegations.”