Office of the Permanent Secretary

Permanent Secretary:              Mr Charles Deguara              Click here for CV

Office of the Director General (Operations)

Director General (Operations:  Mr Mario Caruana                 Click here for CV

The primary objective of the Office of the Director General (Operations) is to assist the Permanent Secretary in the overall supervision of the top management structures of the Ministry and the various departments and entities within its portfolio. This entails monitoring the efficiency and effectiveness by which public services are delivered to the general public.

The Office will support the realisation of measures taken at corporate level in areas of Business and Financial Planning and Capacity Building. The process will address the recruitment and the training and development of personnel to match growing obligations arising from legal or administrative requirements besides the growing demands for quality service that citizens have come to expect from a modern Public Sector.  This activity will also include a review of business processes in an environment that is becoming more and more ICT driven.

The Office is also tasked with monitoring and assisting in the implementation of major programmes initiated by the Ministry and those cutting across the Public Sector. Consideration will also be given to ensure that full utilisation is made of EU Funding opportunities.

A specific responsibility of this Office is the coordinating all activities related to asylum and illegal immigration. By being a point of reference at both national and international level, a corporate approach in this area can be ensured. Through networking with National Bodies of other countries the capacity building process of local expertise in this area will also addressed.

Directorate of Corporate Services

Director:                                   Mr George Zerafa                  Click here for CV

The aim of the Department of Corporate Services is to offer support and advice to the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary and the departments falling under the Ministry’s area of responsibility on issues related to human resource management, finance and administration and information technology.

The Department’s main responsibility is to ensure the most effective and efficient utilisation of the resources, both human as well financial, at the Ministry’s disposal. It includes the collation and preparation of the Ministry’s business plans, financial estimates, annual reports and monthly financial forecasts. The Department also plays an effective co-ordinating role on these matters between the Ministry departments and the central authorities, mainly the Office of the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Finance. Currently the Department handles all finance and administration requirements of the Office of the Commissioner for Refugees, the Department of Citizenship and Expatriate Affairs, the Law-drafting and Translation Unit and the Office of the Manager Airport Security. Most of the planning of the work of the Department is deadline driven and depends on the target dates set by the central authorities.

EU Affairs Directorate

Director:                                  Dr Josette Zerafa                  Click here for CV

The aim of the European Union Affairs Directorate within the Ministry for Justice and Home Affairs is to coordinate matters relating to discussions, at EU level, which fall within the area of responsibility of this Ministry.

It is the EU Affairs Directorate’s function to keep up-to-date with events within the EU dealing with freedom, security and justice and to keep the departments falling within the ambit of the Ministry informed about these developments. It distributes a considerable amount of documents received from the EU on a daily basis to the departments both for information purposes as well as to ensure that the necessary decisions would be taken, in line with the Ministry’s policies, in order to present one voice within the various working groups of the Council of the European Union. Therefore the Directorate coordinates the positions taken at the various groups discussing legislative and other proposals at EU level. Furthermore, the Directorate ensures that EU funds falling within its responsibility, such as the European Refugee Fund, are utilised in the best possible manner.

The core functions of the EU Affairs Directorate can therefore be summarised as follows:

·         Ensuring that legislative and non-legislative proposals being discussed within the Council of the EU, with a possible effect on the functions of the Ministry and its departments, are carefully followed up

·         Ensuring that the Ministry’s actions on these proposals are consonant with the Ministry’s policies and that they do not have any negative impact on Malta

·         Disseminating information about developments in the EU to key stakeholders in a timely and efficient manner

·         Managing the coordination of attendance to the numerous working groups on freedom, security and justice so that Malta will be duly represented at such groups

·         Coordinating and drawing up instruction notes for these meetings, including the meetings of the Permanent Representatives within their Committee (COREPER) and the Justice and Home Affairs Ministers’ meetings

·         Coordinating the preparation of explanatory memoranda for meetings of the Inter-Ministerial Committee, Cabinet and the Foreign & European Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives, with a view to setting Malta’s position in relation to specific proposals

·         Ensuring that EU funds are utilised well

·         Acting as the channel of correspondence on all matters related to justice and home affairs between the EU institutions and the competent authorities in Malta

Overseeing the drawing up of answers to the numerous questionnaires that are sent by the EU institutions as part of their functions when preparing any document to be discussed by the Member States

Policy Development Directorate

Director:                                 Mr Joseph St. John                  Click here for CV

The Policy Development Directorate is accountable to the Permanent Secretary for initiating, developing and co-ordinating policy options.

In line with the Ministry’s Mission Statement “To promote the development of a secure, just and inclusive society and to facilitate the devolution of decision-making processes at community level” its mandate is to provide advice on policy issues and formulate policy direction for departments falling within the Ministry’s portfolio. This is done by keep abreast of the policies being proposed and discussed by the European Union that might have a direct or indirect affect on the policies, strategies or operations of the Ministry or other Government entities. Topics of national importance and public opinion also have a bearing on policy formulation. Within the Ministry for Justice and Home Affairs policy issues generally fall under one of the following headings: Justice, Civil Registry, Government Property, Local Government, Security and Immigration. The Directorate is responsible to instigate operation reviews of departments so as to reduce burdensome regulations and improve service delivery.

A specific task of the Directorate is the policy formulation and coordination of various stakeholders in the area of asylum and irregular immigration. Our primary objective is to make best use of scarce resources and maximise on the lessons learnt by other countries. The expertise of international organisations working in this field is also tapped.  A specific unit within the Directorate, known as the Third Country Nationals Section, is tasked with acting as a focal point for the various initiatives taken by Government in this area such as training programmes, exchange of best practices and resettlement exercises. Participation in various international fora is another important commitment. Gradually networking relationship is being built with other national bodies, thus gaining access to emerging concepts besides facilitating our capacity building process.

The Directorate also serves as the Ministry’s focal point for various national policies which have a bearing across the Public Sector

Programme Implementation Directorate

Director:     Mr Jesmond Camilleri                                        Click here for CV

The aim of the Programme Implementation Directorate is to act as the Ministry’s overall project management reviewer and provide for the effective and timely management of customer care and quality standards.
In particular it is responsible for:

• Handling Customer Care requests
• Assisting in the development of Quality Service Charters
• Monitoring of Ministry projects
• Acting as focal point for SOLVIT and
• Dealing with international affairs matters (including bilateral and multilateral cooperation initiatives and agreements).

Furthermore, it is responsible for introducing and monitoring Green initiatives within the Ministry.  The Directorate is also responsible for vetting daily newspapers, bringing particular issues to the attention of relevant officials and maintaining a database of all articles that are relevant to the Ministry’s area of operations.

Chief Information Office

Chief Information Officer:          Mr. Kevin Buhagiar