Amendments to the law pertaining to the care and protection of minors were put in place on Tuesday and Minister for Family and Children's Rights Michael Falzon proudly said that another important step has been taken for the care of minors.
Together with Falzon, Dr. Andy Ellul was also part of the press conference for the announcement of these amendments.
The main amendment to the already existing law which was introduced in May 2020 is the mandatory reporting of children who, through professional analysis, are suffering from a form of abuse.
"In no way are these amendments a form of witch hunt on parents and caregivers of minors" Ellul said while explaining the situation.
The system of reporting has always been there Ellul said "but it is now being regulated".
"Given that childcare is a multi-disciplinary approach, a legal framework had to be in place for the protection of minors", Ellul said. This means that lawyers, doctors, podiatrists, psychologists and many more industry professionals now have the legal obligation to report cases of abuse of minors.
Industry professionals who do not report such cases will be subject to legal action against them and if an industry professional reports a case in good faith and it results that there is no abuse, the professional will be protected by this same law.
Michael Falzon gave his closing remarks. "The introduction of this law does not state that no reports were being done in the past", Falzon said while restating the importance of a proper frame work in this regard.
"Our main aim has always been to protect minors and now industry professionals who work with minors have the tools to do this and catch cases of abuse at an earlier stage than before" Falzon said.