Malta Security Service ignored invitations for international collaboration

Home Affairs Minister Manuel Mallia said this evening that reforms were needed in the running of the Security Service to ensure that it focused on its core functions as laid down by the law which established it. In a speech which ranged from national security to film-making, which are all within his ministerial responsibilities, Dr Mallia said during the Budget debate that the distinction between the roles of the Security Service and the police was blurred, and the Security Service had ignored its important function of establishing security networks, even embarrassing Malta by ignoring invitations for cooperation and information-sharing with overseas security services. The minister said he has already introduced some measures to improve the way the service operates. Henceforth, he said, whenever the service asks him to sign warrants for communication intercepts, he would do so on watermarked documents which would be numbered and would bear his signature, date and time. He had done so, he said, not because there was some irregularity in the past, but to have stronger safeguards. It was made clear that one could not have a situation where the security service started intercepts...