VALLETTA, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said on Monday that his government welcomed a report by the Venice Commission on the Rule of Law in Malta and would hand it to the steering committee in charge of coordinating an update to Malta's Constitution.
The Venice Commission, or the European Commission for Democracy through Law, is the Council of Europe's advisory body on constitutional matters.
The commission recently made a stinging assessment of the state of the rule of law in Malta. It said Friday that the Office of the Prime Minister was at "the centre of power", and warned of imbalances this could cause.
Other important roles such as that of the President, Parliament, Cabinet, the Judiciary, and the Ombudsman, were too weak in their institutional position to provide sufficient checks and balances, the commission warned.
In a recorded message, Muscat emphasized that the laws and structures that were scrutinised by the commission had been in place for generations and were simply inherited by his administration.
He then gave an overview of the government's reforms in the sector since 2013.
Muscat said the ball was now in the court of the Constitutional Convention steering committee -- headed by Maltese President Marie Louise Coleiro Preca -- to implement the required changes.
Muscat had previously pledged to implement the recommendations made by the commission.
