The Justice and Home Affairs Ministry has finalised a bill that proposes the introduction of an offenders’ register aimed at strengthening the legal framework for the protection of minors.
Addressing a press conference at the ministry yesterday afternoon, Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici said employers and those responsible for religious or voluntary organisations need to be proactive in their approach towards the offenders’ register.
He explained that the proposed law, which is being published in today’s edition of the Government Gazette, provides for the registration of people who stand charged with serious crimes, including sex crimes.
This year there were several calls for the introduction of a sex offenders’ register, but the government has decided to widen the scope of the bill by including other offences.
“The aim of the bill is to protect minors from sex crimes as well as other serious crimes such as the sale of drugs,” said Dr Mifsud Bonnici.
The bill proposes that the offenders’ register will be kept in the First Hall of the Civil Court.
The court will be given the power to issue an interim notification to list someone’s name in the register before the court case is concluded.
The court will also be able to add names of people found guilty of serious crimes other than those listed in the bill if it finds that they could have a negative impact on minors.
The register will be accessible only to relevant entities in which children are involved.
The bill defines ‘relevant entities’ as institutions, establishments or organisations which provide services or organise activities which involve the education, care, custody, protection or upbringing of minors.
It therefore applies to private and public entities as well as religious and voluntary organisations.
The people responsible for such entities will also be legally obliged to request access to the register to confirm whether the people they want to employ are on the list.
If an entity employs a listed person without checking the register first, that person’s employment will have to be terminated immediately, and the person responsible for that entity will be guilty of an offence punishable by a jail term of three months to four years, or a fine of €2,500 to €50,000.
Moreover, the bill states that if a director, manager, secretary or other official is aware that one of his/her employees has committed a crime and fails to file a police report, he/she will be guilty of an offence also punishable by a jail term of three months to four years, or a fine of €2,500 to €50,000.
As soon as the law comes into force, entities will be given a year to file an application in court to check whether their employees/volunteers are listed in the register.
Should a person have valid reasons for the removal of his name from the register, s/he would be able to file an application in the Criminal Court.
The duration of the listing will vary according to the seriousness of the crime, and this is reduced by half in the case of people who were minors when they committed the crime.