Listing people’s names on an offenders’ register for life may be in breach of their fundamental human rights, according to a lawyer who specialises in the field.
The offenders’ list, aimed at protecting children from sex offenders and other potentially dangerous convicts, is expected to come into force by the end of the year.
Justice Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici told The Sunday Times that, through the Protection of Minors Registration Act, offenders would be placed on the register at the discretion of the courts and, once listed, their name would remain there for life.
The Bill, which will be discussed in Parliament next month, proposes that the list be kept at the law courts and will not be accessible to the public. However, institutions or organisations working with minors under 16 would be legally bound to consult it before employing anyone.
Human rights lawyer Therese Comodini Cachia explained that, while the register would bring peace of mind to concerned parents, the State had to balance the protection of minors with the rights of offenders.
“It is not really the introduction of such a register in itself that may cause concern in this respect, but more so the method in which the register is kept.
“Instances which have already been ruled as violating human rights include, for example, the indefinite retention of an offender’s name on the register or the lack of measures of review of the retention of the offender’s name,” Dr Comodini Cachia said.
Just last May, the European Court of Human Rights found that the system placing sex offenders in Scotland on a register for life, with no way of being removed, breached their human rights to respect for a private and family life.
The case involved a man who was placed on the sex offenders register indefinitely at the age of 15.
The decision followed a judgment of the UK Supreme Court, the highest in the land, that dismissed a Home Office challenge in relation to two English offenders who were on the register for life.
A 52-year-old man and a teenager convicted of rape successfully argued that the lack of opportunity to demonstrate they had reformed was a breach of their human rights.
Children’s Commissioner Helen D’Amato welcomed the long-awaited decision to introduce the register but was concerned it would not be implemented retroactively. This meant convicted paedophiles would not be listed.
“This presents a cause for concern and it is hoped a feasible solution will be worked upon to address the problems that the lacunae poses,” Ms D’Amato said.
Anthea Agius, from the Social Workers’ Association, said the register was a positive move but had to be accompanied by reformative measures to be truly effective.
“The paradox is that some offenders are minors themselves and need protection,” she said.
Ms Agius said the reality was that just because offenders were not allowed to work with children did not mean they would never come into contact with minors. For this reason emphasis had to be placed on reform.
She agreed that being registered for life could result in an imbalance of rights which was why there was a need for social and psychological assessment to guide the term of registration.
The idea to have a paedophile register surfaced in mid-2006 following a controversy involving the Malta Football Association, which had retained a 79-year-old convicted paedophile as a groundsman at the Pace Grasso ground in Paola that also doubles as a playing field for a nearby school.
The register, which will not be limited to sex offences, will come into force under the Protection of Minors Registration Act by the end of the year.