Implementing the Business Re-Organisation Action Plan of the Office of the Attorney General and the Office of the State Advocate in Malta

The Commission provides technical support to the Offices of the Attorney General and State Advocate in the area of justice, with the purpose of developing institutional performance, to achieve an optimum productivity levels and adequate performance standards, to support employee’s wellbeing and to generate data on performance and productivity allowing the two Offices to perform their mandates with maximal efficiency and effectiveness.

Context 

Following the Opinion of the Venice Commission about the Rule of Law in Malta (2018) and on the basis of its recommendations, as well as the 2019 Country Specific Recommendations of the Council of the EU, Malta enacted the State Advocate Act, Chapter 603 of the Laws of Malta, that effectively separated the two functions formerly executed by the Attorney General, namely that of legal advisor to the Government and also Chief Prosecutor. As a result, in 2019 a new agency was created - the Office of State Advocate - which is legally and operationally separated from the Office of the Attorney General. Both Agencies faced their own challenges.

In 2022, with the assistance from the European Commission, an Action Plan to support the attainment of ‘operational and administrative excellence’ within and between the Offices was developed.

The project aims at supporting Malta in the implementation of some of the actions included in the aforementioned Action Plan, especially those requiring specific external expertise. The support will be focused on the full operational independency of both Offices, strengthening capacities for their effective functioning (through establishment of operational processes, measurements, continuous training and ICT integration) and improved public trust, accountability and transparency (through communication strategies).

Support delivered

The support will be delivered to both the Office of the Attorney General and the State Advocate and will help them adopt internal strategies and introduce new tools for their institutional and administrative re-organisation. The support will also include the development of communication strategies, improving their public trust and transparency. Furthermore, the technical support will allow the two offices to improve their capacity in providing continuous professional development to their staff, through the development of training curricula and training programmes. Lastly, the technical support shall include the design of a new IT system to supporting the operations of the two offices.

Results achieved

The expected long-term effect of this project is that the two Offices are well governed and structured, transparent, accountable, competent, efficient and effective, public trust and confidence is improved, and the role and outputs are measured and acknowledged by the stakeholders.