The protection offered to minors has to be radically changed as in today’s world they are exposed to things which weren’t a problem in the past, Justice Minister, Carm Mifsud Bonnici said in Parliament on Wednesday.

Minors are particularly vulnerable and often suffer most in cases of abuse, which is why it was decided that in such cases children will only take the witness stand once, Dr Mifsud Bonnici said.

Speaking during the debate on amendments to various criminal matters, he said that if, for example, the case ends with a trial by jury, then the evidence will be recorded for future reference.

This way the child will be giving evidence at the age when the abuse took place, and won’t have to go through the ordeal again.

Dr Mifsud Bonnici said the concept of video conferencing had also been such a success that he believed the time would come when it was necessary in more court rooms.

Besides the prison sentence, a guilty person with a child-related profession is stopped from all child-related activities, for a while or even long term, but even someone for who it was not a profession would now be stopped from such contact.

The sentences faced are even tougher if the abuse results in damage to the physical or mental health of the underage person, when the person is particularly vulnerable, when there are two or more perpetrators, when the person is protected under the Domestic Violence Act or if the guilty lives with or is a member of the family.

Even chatting to a minor via the internet, while under the pretence of being a peer, and meeting the victim is enough to constitute a crime, he said.

There was much debate on the need for a register of paedophiles, which in itself was a good concept, he said, and had to be carried out very carefully.

Dr Mifsud Bonnici said there would be more serious penalties for drink driving, and if a person refused a test to establish whether they had been drinking, then it is presumed the person was over the limit, unless proven otherwise.

Those driving through a red light, he said, would face a €250 fine, since this endangered the lives of others. There would also be tougher penalties for answering mobile phones while driving and blocking roads.

Among other amendments, Dr Mifsud Bonnici said it will be illegal to sell toy weapons, drive cars with tinted windows and use gas cannons, which are used to scare birds away, since this disturbed public peace.

Jose Herrera, PL, said that in general the opposition agreed with the bill and would be voting in favour, albeit with minor amendments.

Dr Herrera said that while he understood that parliament had to respond to current developments, he did not agree that it interfered when the government or the Attorney General disagreed with a judgment.

The role of the Attorney General, he said, was difficult to define as he is not a politician. He has two roles; that of chief prosecutor and that of legal advisor to the government.

The debate was whether the two roles should be distinguished, he said, although he was in no way saying that it was his personal opinion that this should be the case.

There were 270 drug cases in eight years, but only two acquittals, he said, which was ‘unbelievable’. This was not due to Magistrate Lawrence Quintano, he said, who carried out his work in an exemplary manner.

Rather it was due to the law, which held that the evidence given by a person was enough to convict someone, which led to unsafe convictions in his opinion.

The more serious sentences facing those convicted of paedophilia, Dr Herrera said, were a positive step and the opposition agreed wholeheartedly. Particularly in the case of those finding people via the internet, he said.

Turning to the issue of a register listing those found guilty of paedophilia, Dr Herrera said he wished for some clarification on how this would work and its aim, as he felt sure that this proposal would be met with some criticism.

This had to strike a balance between societal interests and the protection of people, Dr Mifsud Bonnici said in reply to a question by Dr Herrera.

Dr Herrera said that he had reservations on the six-month or one-year sentence facing those found guilty of distributing pornographic material. While he agreed without any reservation where children were involved, there was no need to become too scrupulous.

Turning to drink driving, Dr Herrera said that Malta had to be careful not to go back to the times of too many roadblocks. It was one thing if there was reasonable suspicion, but one could not just pick on people at random and find them guilty if they refuse to get a test done.

Dr Mifsud Bonnici said that the premise of reasonable suspicion had not been removed.

The House of Representatives rose for Easter recess and will meet again on 19 April 2010.