FIAU board denies attempt to muzzle former employee
The Board of Governors of the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit said in a statement it wishes to point to the very capricious and irresponsible use of words in describing two applications legitimately filed by it in the Industrial Tribunal in the case concerning a claim of unfair dismissal by one of its former employees as an attempt to muzzle an ex-FIAU employee.
The applications filed by the FIAU are aimed at ensuring that the parties to the case before the Industrial Tribunal follow the procedural and substantive law in pleading the case.
They were filed upon the collective decision of the board and the director, and not only of the Attorney General who chairs the board.
It is the Prevention of Money Laundering Act itself which in article 34 applies strict confidentiality to the internal affairs of the Unit, and this in line with the very nature of the Unit as an intelligence agency. The provisions on secrecy in the Prevention of Money Laundering Act are not a capricious and are not unique to Maltese law. They are the international norm for intelligence agencies and a fundamental prerequisite for the same agencies to be able share information.
Actions which undermine this principle will induce marginalisation of Maltese agencies from the international community and will substantially weaken Malta’s ability to fight organised crime, money laundering, and the funding of terrorism.
This is no attempt to gag any party to the case. It is a claim to find a proper balance between the applicant’s right to a fair trial and the legal obligations of the Unit based on its genuine security needs. Moreover, the claim was filed only after the applicant unilaterally presented an affidavit including information which has no relevance to his claim of unfair dismissal, but which gives publicity to internal FIAU matters in a manner appearing to seek publicity to confidential information for its own sake.
The question of finding a balance between interests such as security and the right to a fair trial is one about which a number of prominent courts have pronounced themselves, and the Industrial Tribunal should be allowed the opportunity to decide upon the applications without undue political or other pressure.