ACT No. II of 2018 An Act to amend the Public Administration Act, (Cap. 497) BE IT ENACTED by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the House of Representatives, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same as follows:-

I assent.

(L.S.)

MARIE-LOUISE

COLEIRO PRECA

President

2nd February, 2018

ACT No. II of 2018

An Act to amend the Public Administration Act, (Cap. 497)

BE IT ENACTED by the President, by and with the advice and

consent of the House of Representatives, in this present Parliament

assembled, and by the authority of the same as follows:-

(1) The short title of this Act is the Public Administration

commencement.

(Amendment) Act, 2018 and this Act shall be read and construed as

one with the Public Administration Act, hereinafter referred to as "the

principal Act".

(2) This Act shall come into force on such date as the Minister

responsible for public administration shall by order in the Gazette

establish and different dates may be established and different

transitory provisions may be made in respect of different provisions

and purposes of this Act.

Immediately after article 48 of the principal Act there shall be

added the following new articles

48A. (1) There shall be a Standing Committee on

Public Appointments which shall consist of seven

members appointed by the House of Representatives of

whom four shall be appointed by the Government, one

of whom shall be appointed as Chairperson, and the

other three shall be appointed by the Opposition.

(2)

Four members of the Committee shall

constitute a quorum.

(3)

The Standing Committee on Public

Appointments shall have the power to conduct pre-

appointment hearings of persons nominated for certain

public appointments as may be provided by law from

time to time.

(4) The provisions of paragraphs (3) and (4) of

Standing Order 120B of the Standing Orders of the

House of Representatives shall, mutatis mutandis, apply

to the Standing Committee on Public Appointments.

48B. (1) Notwithstanding the provisions of any

other law, where a Minister (hereinafter in this article

referred to as "the Minister") intends to nominate a

person to be an Ambassador or High Commissioner or

on appointments to

other principal representative of Malta in any other

country, not being a person who is selected from

amongst public officers in the service of the Ministry

for Foreign Affairs or a person who already holds the

post of Ambassador or High Commissioner or other

principal representative of Malta in any other country,

as may be specified by order of the Prime Minister in

the First Part of the Fifth Schedule to this Act, or to

hold a post in a Government Agency, Entity, Board or

Commission or to head any other institution established

by law as may be specified by order of the Prime

Minister in the Second Part of the Fifth Schedule to this

Act, then unless the nomination is in respect of a re-

appointment, the Minister shall at least twenty days

before he intends that the appointment should become

effective give notice of the proposed appointment to the

Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Public

Appointments (hereinafter in this article referred to as

"the Committee")

Provided that

(i)

the exemption in respect of a

nomination consisting of a re-appointment

provided for in this sub-article shall not apply to

persons who are not in the post on the date of

coming into force of this sub-article; and

(ii) an order which amends the Second

Part of the Fifth Schedule in such a manner as to

reduce the posts listed in the said Second Part of

the Fifth Schedule, except in the case where the

sole purpose of such an amendment is that of

reflecting a change in the name of a post or of an

entity, shall require approval by resolution of the

House of Representatives before it comes into

force.

(2)

Upon receipt of the notice referred to in sub-

article (1) the Chairperson of the Committee shall,

through the Clerk of the House, circulate the said notice

to all Members of the Committee giving the members

five days to submit any questions in writing to the

proposed nominee. The said questions shall relate to the

professional competence, suitability and background of

the nominee and they shall be notified to the Clerk of the

House, who shall notify them to the Minister who gave

notice of the proposed appointment, to the Chairperson

and to the Members of the Committee and to the person

nominated who shall have ten days to reply to the said

questions in writing to the Clerk of the House who shall

again circulate the replies as explained above. The

questions and the replies shall, unless the Committee

otherwise decides, be made public.

(3) By not later than the working day immediately

following the expiry of the period of ten days

established in sub-article (2) or of the extension of any

such period in the case that the said period has been

extended by the Committee in accordance with sub-

article (6), the Clerk of the House shall transmit the

replies submitted by the nominee to the Minister who

gave notice of the proposed appointment, to the

Chairperson and to all the Members of the Committee.

(4) The Committee shall in all cases call the

nominee to a hearing at a meeting of the Committee so

that supplementary questions related to the written

replies provided may be put to the nominee. The said

hearing shall be held on a date not later than five days

from the notification to the Committee of the replies to

the questions unless the Committee agrees to another

date for the hearing. The said hearing shall be held in

public but the Committee may where it is satisfied that

it is appropriate, decide that the hearing should be held

in camera.

(5) Upon the conclusion of the pre-appointment

hearing in accordance with this article the Committee

shall, unless it decides that it needs to discuss or clarify

any matter with the Minister give its advice to the

Minister which shall include the content of the form

included in the Third Part of the Fifth Schedule to this

Act to which there shall be annexed a copy of the

minutes of the Committee relative to the hearing

Provided that

(i) any

discussion

between

the

Committee and the Minister held in terms of this

sub-article shall be held during a meeting of the

Committee to take place either in public or in

camera as the Committee may decide;

(ii) any matter which according to this

article is to be discussed by the Committee shall,

notwithstanding any other law, not be transferred

for discussion to another Committee of the House

of Representatives or to the whole House unless

the Committee by a majority vote of all its

members so decides; and

(iii) the final decision as to whether an

appointment which is subject to the procedure

provided in this article is to be made shall in any

case pertain to the Minister.

(6) The Committee may, giving reasons, either on

its own initiative or at the request of the Minister who

has given the notice of a proposal for the appointment,

lengthen or shorten any time limit set out in this article.

(7) The time limits established in this article shall

be suspended during any period when the House of

Representatives is not in session or during which it is

adjourned for more than seven days

Provided that nothing in this sub-article shall be

interpreted as precluding the Committee, acting upon the

unanimous consent of all its Members, from

implementing its functions even at any time during

which the House is adjourned for more than seven days

as above-mentioned.

(8) The procedure provided for in this article shall

not apply to Acting appointments made for a maximum

period of up to six months.".

Immediately after the Fourth Schedule to the principal Act

there shall be added the following new schedule

"FIFTH SCHEDULE

(Article 48B)

FIRST PART

Ambassadors, High Commissioners or principal representatives of

Malta to countries where they are appointed as resident Ambassadors,

High Commissioners or principal representatives.

SECOND PART

The Governor of the Central Bank of Malta

The Chairman of the Malta Financial Services Authority

The Regulator for Energy and Water Services

The Chairperson of the Authority for Transport in Malta

The Chairman of the Malta Communications Authority

The Chairman of the Malta Lotteries and Gaming Authority

The Chairperson of the Planning Board of the Planning Authority

The Chairperson of the Environment and Resources Authority

The Commissioner for Voluntary Organisations

The Chairperson of the Lands Authority

The Chairman of the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs

Authority

The Chief Executive Officer of the Medicines Authority

The Chairperson of the Malta Tourism Authority

The Chairman of the National Commission for Further and Higher

Education

The Chairman of the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit

The list of offices established above shall be deemed to include any

other office in which all the legal functions of the offices above-

mentioned shall be vested from time to time both if in the same

entity and if in another entity, except for a Government Department,

which may be established from time to time to fulfil the said legal

functions.".

THIRD PART

Form of Advice to be given by the

Standing Committee on Public Appointments

"Minister,

The Standing Committee on Public Appointments has organized a

pre-appointment hearing in respect of the proposed appointment of

.................................................... as ...................................................

of ................................................ and after having considered the

results of the pre-appointment hearing has decided to advise in favour/

against the proposed appointment.

Chairperson

Standing Committee on Public Appointments".

Passed by the House of Representatives at Sitting No. 76 of the 30th

January, 2018.

ANĠLU FARRUGIA

Speaker

RAYMOND SCICLUNA

Clerk of the House of Representatives

€0.72