The concept of femicide will be introduced in the criminal code, Prime Minister Robert Abela said on Tuesday, contradicting previous statements by the justice minister.

In a Facebook post, Abela said he was satisfied that, after fruitful dialogue with civil society groups, the Cabinet has approved changes to step up the fight against gender-based violence and introduce the concept of femicide into Maltese law.

Abela was accompanied for the meeting by reforms minister Owen Bonnici.

The PM said that more details will be announced in the coming days, but said he looks forward to see the Parliamentary process start as soon as possible.

Last month, justice minister Edward Zammit Lewis had shot down calls for femicide to be included in the criminal code, saying that murder already carries the highest possible sentence – life imprisonment.

Zammit Lewis had said that making femicide a crime or an aggravating factor was “pointless," adding that legal changes should not be made as a “knee-jerk reaction.”

“This does not mean, however, that we shouldn’t do more, not only on a legislative and administrative level but also educationally, to ensure that such a thing never happens again.”

The calls had been made in a report published two days after the rape and murder of Paulina Dembska. The justice minister’s comments had angered women’s rights activists.