
Malta

The Republic of Malta is high-performing in Representation and Rights and mid-performing in Rule of Law and Participation in the Global State of Democracy framework. It performs amongst the top 25 per cent globally across most metrics. Between 2019 and 2024, Malta significantly advanced in Gender Equality, Economic Equality, Freedom of Expression, and Judicial Independence. Over the same period, the country significantly declined in Civic Engagement. The archipelago has a service-based, advanced economy, featuring financial services, tourism, and information technology industries. Malta has a competitive tax environment and a multilingual population making the country highly attractive to foreign investment, yet struggles with high levels of national debt.
In 1530, the Holy Roman Emperor granted the archipelago to a Catholic military order known as the Knights of Malta, before Malta was captured by Napoleonic France in 1798 and became a British Crown colony in 1814. Malta gained independence in 1964 following 150 years of British rule. Since the emergence of the Maltese two-party system in the 1970s, the country has been characterized by high political polarization and a strong partisan mentality. This is also perpetuated by the prevalence of clientelism and challenges related to impunity for political corruption. The 2017 assassination of the journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who investigated high-level corruption cases, threw this culture of impunity into sharp relief, and a public inquiry was called only after immense pressure from the public, civil society and the international community. Recent attempts to tackle corruption have included the introduction of an anti-deadlock mechanism for appointing the Standards Commissioner, who oversees ethical conduct in Parliament.
Malta hosts sizeable British and Italian communities, and is navigating an evolving and more diverse Maltese identity. As Malta’s foreign-born population grows, migration policy continues to be a political concern. Human rights actors have criticized the arbitrary detention of migrants and insufficient responses to rescue migrants at sea. Additionally, a 2025 ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) required Malta to terminate its ‘golden passport’ citizenship-by-investment scheme, citing concerns over corruption, money laundering, and economic inequality.
Malta has made steady progress on Gender Equality (from mid to high range) over the past decade, reflecting broad-based improvements ranging from women’s political representation to women’s labour force participation and representation in managerial positions. However, gender disparities persist and are most pronounced in wages, as well as health and reproductive autonomy. Despite amendments in 2023 to allow abortions in cases where the mother’s life is at stake, abortion law remains highly strict and the issue of abortion rights has been highly divisive. Additionally, the gender corrective mechanism passed in 2021 has been criticized for putting party interests before women’s participation. Malta introduced legal gender recognition procedures based on self-declaration in 2015, and in 2024 passed legislation to recognize non-binary people on official documents.
Looking ahead, it will be important to watch Freedom of the Press, particularly concerns around the impartiality of public broadcasting, as well as weak implementation of recommendations stemming from a 2021 public inquiry into the circumstances of Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination. It will also be critical to watch Absence of Corruption, particularly to monitor recent legislation limiting citizens’ ability to request magisterial inquiries into suspected misconduct, which has been criticized for deterring whistleblowers in high-profile corruption cases involving public officials. Finally, Social Group Equality should be monitored in light of a new integration strategy which aims to improve the access of migrants to health services, as well as educational and employment opportunities.
Last updated: July 2025
https://www.idea.int/democracytracker/
April 2025
New law restricts citizens’ ability to request magisterial inquiries
On 11 April, a new law that restricts citizens' ability to request magisterial inquiries was enacted. Passed by Parliament with a 37–30 vote, the legislation amends the Criminal Code, removing a provision that previously allowed individuals and civil society organizations to report suspected misconduct directly to a magistrate. Critics argue that the reform limits access to justice by eliminating this direct reporting channel. Under the new system, complaints must first be submitted to the police. If the police decide not to act, individuals may then revert to a magistrate to initiate an inquiry. Opponents argue that this process will deter whistleblowers, as complainants are now required to provide court-admissible evidence to the police, placing an undue burden of proof on them. Civil society organizations announced plans to challenge the law before the country’s Constitutional Court.
Sources: Times of Malta (1), Malta Independent, Malta Today, Times of Malta (2), International IDEA
ECJ rules ‘golden passport’ scheme illegal
On 29 April, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that Malta’s ‘golden passport’ citizenship-by-investment scheme violated EU principles of solidarity and mutual trust by ‘commercializing’ citizenship. The case was referred to the Court by the European Commission in September 2022 after Malta declined to end the programme despite infringement proceedings. The scheme had faced criticism for enabling corruption, money laundering, and tax evasion, with investigations alleging involvement of high-ranking officials in facilitating passport sales for kickbacks. It also raised concerns about economic inequality, as it allowed wealthy individuals to obtain citizenship rights unavailable to other residents. The ruling requires Malta to terminate the scheme and pay the costs of the legal proceedings. It applies specifically to the country’s citizenship-by-investment (passport) programme, not to its visa policies.
Sources: European Court of Justice, Government of Malta, Times of Malta, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
February 2025
Proposed magisterial inquiry reforms advance in parliamentary readings
In February, Bill 125, a proposed reform to amend the Criminal Code advanced through parliamentary readings. The bill aims to change how private individuals report suspected wrongdoing by reforming the country’s magisterial inquiry system. Currently, individuals can report suspected misconduct directly to a magistrate, who then decides whether to initiate an inquiry. Although reportedly only 0.3 per cent of magisterial inquiries come from private individuals, the system has been crucial in the investigation of high-profile corruption cases involving public officials. The proposed reform would remove the ability of individuals to resort to magistrates directly. Instead, they would need to first file a police report and provide court-admissible evidence before an inquiry could be launched. If the police fail to act within six months, the individual could then petition for an inquiry. Critics argue that the introduction of this new admissible evidence standard would place an undue burden and make it more difficult for individuals to hold public officials accountable, particularly in complex cases of corruption. On 16 February, over 3,000 protesters gathered in Valletta, urging the government to pause the bill and seek public consultation.
Sources: Parliament of Malta, Malta Today, Malta Independent (1), Malta Independent (2), Aditus, Times of Malta, Amphora Media
June 2023
Reforms allow abortion in case mother’s life is at stake
Parliament voted to slightly ease the ban on abortion so that abortions can be performed in cases where the mother’s life is at stake. According to the bill, proposed by the ruling Labour Party, the decision to terminate a pregnancy is now possible with the sign-off of three doctors, except in the most urgent cases. The opposition supported the bill only after last minute changes which weakened the ambition from allowing abortion in cases of risks to the mother’s health to only cover cases of risks to life. Abortion rights campaigners have condemned the amendments as “unworkable,” which they say fall short of protecting women’s reproductive rights in practice, as performing an abortion in all other cases remains a criminal offense.
Sources: The Guardian (1), The Guardian (2), Amnesty International, Euronews, Malta Independent, Doctors for Choice Malta
March 2023
Case highlights impartiality in state broadcasting
Malta’s Broadcasting Authority (BA) has upheld an impartiality complaint filed against ONE, a media outlet owned by the ruling Labour party, in a significant case in the regulation of party-owned news stations. The Broadcasting Authority ruled against ONE’s decision not to report on ADPD – The Green Party’s press conference about a recent hospital privatisation scandal, and concluded that ONE had been “systematically failing to broadcast ADPD statements in the past months”. It is the first time that BA has found that a station owned by a political party committed a violation by not reporting another party’s perspective. ADPD – The Green Party called on BA to issue directives that would ensure improved media impartiality. The case follows a recent Constitutional Court ruling upholding a judge’s finding in July 2022 that the national broadcaster PBS had failed to treat the National Party impartially by hindering the impact of a political advertisement.
Sources: Times of Malta (1), Times of Malta (2), Times of Malta (3), Malta Independent, ADPD – The Green Party
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