Prime Minister Robert Abela wants to refund fines issued for Covid-19 breaches depending on the circumstances

In a highly controversial move, Prime Minister Robert Abela has expressed his wish to introduce a mechanism that will refund fines that were issued to the Covid-19 restrictions in certain circumstances.

Members of the public were fined for a number of issues while Covid-19 restrictions were in effect, including breaching rules tied to the maximum number of people allowed to be in groups outside, breaching quarantine and others. There rules had been put in place by the health authorities to keep members of the public safe, and to control the spread of the pandemic. A number of restrictions are still in effect given that Covid-19 is still present in the country.

"Those who got a fine are not criminals as some had a genuine explanation for it, so the government is looking into giving refunds or abstentions from having to pay the fine after evaluating the circumstances on which the fines were issued," Abela said in an interview on Labour Party media on Sunday.

The cases, he said, would need to be evaluated.