Bribery and malversation of public officers

Abstract

Bribery of public officers and servants and malversation by officers and servants are both offences that are dealt with in Title III "Crimes against the Administration of Justice and other Public Administrations", Sub-Title IV "Abuse of Public Authority" of the Criminal Code. In both these sets of offences, the most important element is the public character of the offender. Therefore, in the first chapter I will examine who is a "public officer" and who is a "public servant". In the case of corruption, when a bribe is accepted by a public officer, the person making the bribe is deemed to be an accomplice in the offence. I shall deal with the public officer's position in Chapter 2, and the corrupter's position in Chapter 3. Chapters 4 and 5 aim to look at the position at English and Italian law, regarding corruption, respectively. A comparative study with Maltese law will be included. Chapter 6 shall 1 deal with "malversation". In Maltese law, one can hardly speak of malversation as an offence sui generis. The offences falling under this heading are the taking of a private interest and embezzlement by public officers or servants. A comparative study will be included in this chapter. Bribery and malversation are topics and little change is needed in the law. However, we shall see what changes may be required in the course of this study and in the conclusion.