Justice Minister Owen Bonnici proposed an amendment to a traffic law that saw a teacher named Dorianne Camilleri imprisoned for five years after she involuntary caused the death of a man and injured his sister in a traffic accident in 2011.

The law in question stipulates that in a traffic accident where more than one person is killed, a minimum sentence must be imposed of five years with a maximum of ten. This law was passed following the tragic incident in 2005 when five young men riding home from Paceville in a van lost their lives in a Zebbug traffic accident.

The law reads: “Where the offender has caused the death of more than one person or where in addition to causing the death of a person the offender has also caused bodily harm to another person or other persons the punishment shall be that of imprisonment of a term from five to 10 years.”

 

Dr Bonnici called the law “draconian” and put forward an amendment for discussion that would retain a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment, but called for the minimum sentencing to be at the discretion of the courts. 

His comments were made this evening in Parliament during a discussion on changes to Malta's laws on drink driving.