Make haste slowly, Minister

The Minister of Education, Culture, Youths and Sport, Dolores Cristina said that someone in authority was quoted as saying that the need of a sex offenders' register should be addressed with great caution (May 30). I assume Ms Cristina is referring to a statement made two weeks earlier by Social Policy Minister John Dalli (May 15).

Ms Cristina feels that the process for the introduction of the register is moving at a snail's pace and urges the Children's Commissioner to take it upon her office to ensure that the register be in place before the end of 2008: "We have had ample time to be cautious. Let's do it. Just do it."

The minister is in a state of panic. She is well-intentioned but unrealistic in her aspiration. The introduction of the register calls for right timing, vigilance and patience so that nothing regrettable is done in haste and nothing left undone through sheer inertia. It is vital that we have a register. It will significantly enhance the protection of our children from sexual predators - sexual offences can be devastating on the victims and their families.

The minister had ample time during her tenure of the Ministry for Social Policy to introduce legislation for a comprehensive Children's Act, which would have gone some way in the protection of our children from significant physical, emotional and sexual abuse. Unfortunately, she opted for a piecemeal approach.

Legislative action for the introduction of the register should not be the result of emotional public response to child abuse but based on research that legislation will make a difference in the frequency of sexual crimes and, at the same time, will not impinge on the civil rights of sex offenders or make them a target for vigilantism.

There will need to be a process of extensive public discussion on this matter and the views of those working on the frontline with sex offenders should be sought. It is also necessary that the Children's Commissioner will attract the necessary funding from the government for the purpose of carrying out international comparisons on approaches to the register and its management.

I suspect the minister has not been diligent enough in working out the cost implications of the management of the register. It will require continuous monitoring by public agencies to ensure that offenders comply with the law. Furthermore, costs for the provision of approved housing for offenders in the community and for minimising the risk to children posed by certain offenders through the provision of treatment and the harnessing of new technologies for the enhancement of management capabilities can reach dizzying heights.

A culture change will also be needed whereby the relationship between the public and the police is more open and built on mutual trust. At least, 75 per cent of child sex offenders are, in fact, related or known to their victims.

The nature of public notification is a contentious and complicated topic. Should the public be notified in a case of incest? Incest victims might fear reporting the abuse because of public notification. Should names of teenage offenders be placed on the register? A "worrying" trend of rampant casual sex among the young has been reported (The Sunday Times, June 1). How would law-abiding parents react to their teenage children being placed on the register for a sex offence?

It would certainly do no harm to the minister to make haste slowly. The US Megan's law has been found to be flawed. This allows communities direct and uncontrolled access to information on offenders, mainly through websites. The UK authorities seem to have got it right in this respect. Figures show that recidivism is low (under 0.5 per cent of medium- to high-risk managed offenders committed serious further offences in 2006).

In Malta we need to design our own system. It is a daunting task given the nature and complexity of sexual offences and the intrusive nature of our national identity. Mr Dalli is on the right track in saying that this is a delicate matter and merits a proper analysis.

Mr Muscat was an adviser in the Juvenile Court in Malta for 11 years and chairman of the Children and Young Persons (Care Orders) Advisory Board for two years.