Public inquiry recommendations need to be fulfilled to reach full potential - Daphne Foundation

Daphne Foundation and Article 19 present post-mortem report of public inquiry to identify good practices from the inquiry process

To explore the good practices of the Maltese Public Inquiry model, the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation and ARTICLE 19 Europe has published a report to identify lessons that can be learnt from the inquiry process.

The report identifies lessons from the process, summarises its key achievements, and makes recommendations to the Maltese government, EU institutions and international civil society.

Both NGOs said that there is a clear need for states to develop an investigative model to address the failures in their respective jurisdictions.

In Malta's case, the NGOs praised the inquiry process for its independence and the public nature of the hearings and evidence, while noting that proceedings could have been livestreamed with translation into English for greater transparency. 

However, the NGOs noted a lack of resources available to the inquiry board. They suggested that any future inquiries should have its own legal team, a team of investigators, and a secretariat available to the board, as well as any public communication resources such as media personnel. 

“Across Europe, there are still at least 26 cases of impunity for the murder of journalists. The high level of impunity for crimes against journalists, including deadly attacks, is indicative of a failing criminal justice system, and often of rule of law failure.”

More so, the NGOs argue that a parallel mechanism of public scrutiny to investigate state shortcomings could help fill in any gaps in the criminal justice system.

The Caruana Galizia inquiry was the first of its kind to take place in Malta in nearly two decades, having been established after a two-year campaign by the Caruana Galizia family with civil society involvement.

The public inquiry found that the Maltese State has to shoulder responsibility for her death for creating an atomsphere of impunity that stretched out from the heart of Castille to other entities and regulators.

A year after the public inquiry into Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder, both NGOs remarked that there has been little concrete action or legislation to provide an enabling environment for public interest journalism.

“Mechanisms such as a public inquiry can reach their full potential only when their recommendations are effectively implemented.”