Former judge’s pension ‘regular and justified’, NAO concludes

The National Audit Office (NAO) has concluded that the parliamentary pension paid to former MP and retired judge Philip Sciberras was “regular and justified”.

The NAO’s investigation followed media reports claiming that Sciberras had been paid a pension he was not entitled to, and that he had been granted the pension as a result of political pressure on the treasury department.

The report, published in the Sunday Times of Malta, led Alternattiva Demokratika to request an investigation by NAO in order to establish whether any political interference conditioned the outcome of the parliamentary pension paid to the former MP and whether Sciberras was paid more than he should have been.

“The NAO concluded that the granting of a parliamentary pension to the former MP was regular and justified,” the NAO said.

The former MP was first elected to Parliament in 1979 through a by-election and served from 20 July 1979 to 9 November 1981. He was subsequently re-elected in the 1981 election and served from 18 December 1981 to 13 February 1987.

“The Members of Parliament Pensions Act stipulates that the period in between legislatures is to be reckoned for pension purposes once an MP is elected to Parliament in the following general election,” it said.

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The NAO added that it had established that there was no condition at law the precluded, for pension purposes, that time served by an MP elected through a by-election.

“Having reviewed all documentation made available, including the advice of the Attorney General, the NAO is in agreement with the advice provided, that the whole period served by the former MP was to be reckoned as pensionable.”

Moreover, the Office said it had verified payments made to the former MP in respect of the parliamentary pension and confirmed that all payments made were in fact regular. “The pension received in arrears was due, accruing from 2006 when the former MP reached the age of 61.”

With regard to the alleged political interference, the NAO said it had not identified any inconsistency in the way the case was treated, or any external pressure that could be construed as political interference.

It pointed out that the secretary of the Association of Former Members of Parliament addressed all correspondence to the relevant authorities in efforts to assist the former MP is resolving the matter.