Evident and blatant cases of law enforcement

The reply to my parliamentary question by the Minister of Justice, to the effect that, in the first nine months of this year, not a single person under the age of 16 was caught consuming alcohol in places of entertainment, has, quite rightly, been described as "incomprehensible" by a correspondent who reacted promptly to the ministerial disclosure.

Only recently, the St Julians police arraigned a woman who had a tiny puppy in her handbag at St George Bay where no dogs are allowed.

Which suggests that the police are capable of performing their duties with X-Ray efficiency. Yet, for all of the past nine months, they did not see any youngster consuming alcohol in any bar and in the streets in the St Julians area.

The minister's statement suggests a blatant disregard for enforcement.

This is evidenced by the fact that any casual visitor to the St Julians entertainment area could see several young people drinking bottles of wine and other spirits in the streets in breach of the law. The added fact that this is an everyday occurrence leads to the conclusion that casual police patrols, if any, are no deterrent.

Legislation without adequate enforcement is not only pointless. It tends to encourage high-handedness and a propensity to take risks. It tips the scales in favour of criminality.

It is not enough to buttress discipline by meaningful and effective enforcement. The rule of law needs to be sustained by the rigours of the courts when it comes to serious crime and, more so, in the case of serial criminals.

In a separate parliamentary reply, the Minister of Justice disclosed that, between January and September this year, the police took 274 criminal actions against 55 persons for loitering in Gżira, Ta' Xbiex, Msida and Marsa. Thirty-six of these persons had been arraigned 255 times on the same charges! The minister said that several of these cases are still pending before the courts but those cases that had been decided had led to a conditional discharge or a suspended jail sentence.

How many more arraignments on the same charges have to be made against a person before all our courts begin to realise that law-abiding citizens aspire to live in an orderly and peaceful environment?