Children need a voice in court, commissioner insists

The Commissioner for Children, Sonia Camilleri, has complained that the children's voice is not being heard in court and the future of many is being decided without the children being given the opportunity to voice their opinions.

Mrs Camilleri was discussing her annual report for 2005 at a meeting with the Parliamentary Social Affairs Committee. The report is entitled Children Cannot Wait.

She said that although there were instances where judges called the children to their chambers to listen to what they had to say this was done very rarely.

Many children were not happy with the arrangements made when their parents separated, and visiting time by the parent who would have moved out of the house often clashed with other activities which were also important for the child, the commissioner explained.

Moreover, most court workers had no idea how to deal with children and they needed to be trained in this field.

Replying to questions by committee chairman Clyde Puli, Mrs Camilleri said that all the children she had spoken to did not know about the availability of a children's lawyer or how to reach this lawyer.

Unfortunately, there were only two such lawyers and they were paid a miserable fee.

These children, Mrs Camilleri said, also needed a support group.

She pointed out that there were cases of sexual abuse involving children which had been pending in court for six to seven years. This was unacceptable.

Labour MP Marie Louise Coleiro Preca observed that according to law, judges were not obliged to hear children unless they were at least 14 years old. The law clearly needed to be reviewed, and she also felt that judges should be given training on dealing with children in court.

Brian Magro, from the Social Solidarity Ministry, said that there existed a court service within the Appogg agency. This included a number of social workers who were sometimes ordered by judges to draw up reports on certain cases. To do this, social workers had to listen to children and list their opinions in the report.

Mrs Coleiro Preca replied that these social workers were overworked and she knew of cases where a magistrate or judge would have requested such reports but these would not be compiled for months.

More social workers were needed, not just to help children in court cases, but also to deal with the long list of children living with people who commited abuse. As the commissioner had pointed out in the heading of her report, children could not wait. Tackling problems as soon as they emerged helped prevent more serious problems for individuals and society later. Investment in this sector also meant a lower outlay by the state in the future.

"We have to put our priorities right," Mrs Coleiro Preca said.

She pointed out that cumbersome administrative procedures went against the best interest of children. Delays in tackling problems which affected children had devastating consequences as they grew up.

Mrs Coleiro Preca complained that in marriage separation cases, financial maintenance ordered by the court often did not adequately cover education. There were also cases where maintenance stopped when the children turned 18, making it extremely difficult for them to further their education.

Mrs Camilleri said the working conditions of social workers needed to be improved. Their wages and hours of work were poor, resulting in a large turnover.

Nationalist MP Franco Galea said that children should be protected under any circumstance. They should have full financial backing and it was unacceptable that cases of paedophilia were kept pending.

He asked if the children of illegal immigrants were integrating in Maltese society.

Mrs Camilleri said there were conflicting reports but a proper study had not been made yet.

Mr Magro pointed out that there were two categories of children. The first consisted of children who had arrived in Malta without parents. These were housed in special residences under the eye of a social worker and a coordinator whose role was to see to their integration. The second group consisted of accompanied minors. The government tried to place families with children in residences where the level of care was a bit better than at open centres and there was also an employee to see to the integration of children.