MILAN (AP) — Council of Europe legal experts say the Mediterranean island nation of Malta needs better checks and balances, with the prime minister's powers currently eclipsing other institutions.

The critical assessment issued Friday by the so-called Venice Commission comes as Malta's institutions are under increasing fire following Panama Papers revelations involving a government minister and the murder of a journalist investigating government corruption.

A minister in Prime Minister Josef Muscat's Labour government lost his post in 2016 due to revelations that he opened a company in Panama, but there has been no police investigation despite public pressure. Also, calls for the police the police commissioner's resignation follow the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in October 2017 have gone unanswered.

The imbalance in Malta's institutions has been a topic at the European Parliament.