An honest hearing in Gibraltar

Many people may know Gibraltar only by its wedge-shaped outcropping at the opening of the Mediterranean Sea or by the Beatles song about the marriage of John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Yet it may now be poised to show how perceptions of government malfeasance can lead to renewed public integrity.

An upcoming trial offers “a familiar scenario to those who study corruption: a scandal leading to reform,” noted Robert Barrington, a University of Sussex professor, in a recent post on The Global Anticorruption Blog.

The heightened concern about corruption in Gibraltar, a territory under British authority at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, dates back four years. In 2020, its top law enforcement officer, Ian McGrail, abruptly retired halfway through his term as police commissioner. Gibraltar has been on and off international watchlists in connection with illicit financial activity such as gambling, money laundering, and funding for terrorism. Mr. McGrail said he was forced to resign just as he was poised to expose fraud by senior officials.

The government subsequently launched an inquiry into Mr. McGrail’s departure. It also charged him with various crimes, including sexual misconduct and a breach of data relating to the inquest. Those allegations have since been dismissed, and the inquiry – set to start April 8 – has now effectively become a trial of government corruption.

There’s one final twist. In an apparent attempt to expand its oversight over the legal proceedings, the government rushed through a new law under emergency rules this week granting itself the power to either shut down official inquiries or conceal hearings from the public.

That may have been a salutary miscalculation. The new law has sharpened scrutiny from opposition leaders and global corruption watchdogs ahead of the trial. It may also improve the balance of power in a system in which the executive and legislative branches of government are deeply intertwined. The law is modeled after a 2005 reform in Britain that scholars say has strengthened judicial independence and has enabled more effective public scrutiny of government.

Responding to concerns by Transparency International that the new law may “fetter the independence of the inquiry, obstruct its timely progress or unduly influence witnesses,” the government has felt compelled to offer repeated assurances in recent days that it has no intention to interfere in or halt the inquiry.

A 2019 University of Leiden study of corruption in the Mediterranean island nation of Malta offered a granular view of how flows of illicit international finance exploit the unique vulnerabilities of small states or governates. Smaller electorates, found by the study, are prone to cozy patron-client relationships that result in cultures of impunity and undercut “the ability and willingness of citizens to hold politicians accountable.”

Yet it also found that in smaller settings, “citizens have greater opportunities to scrutinize the extent to which politicians actually deliver on their promises,” which can result in deeper public trust in democratic institutions and procedures.

A year ago, Gibraltar’s government passed legislation establishing a new anti-corruption authority. It has yet to follow through. The McGrail inquiry has now raised public expectations. “If the picture that emerges is of a corrupt government that is complicit with organised crime,” Professor Barrington noted, “there is an upside.” More accountability and transparency in Gibraltar would give global financial integrity another foothold.

*Editor's note: An earlier version of this editorial contained a misspelling of Mr. McGrail's name.