Heads of organisations entrusted with the well-being of children, including Church entities, will have to report abuse allegations involving minors to the Police Commissioner under a new law setting up an offenders’ register.

The obligation to report a crime will apply to all institutions and companies which provide a service or activity involving the education, care, custody, welfare or upbringing of minors. The offenders’ register will not be restricted to sexual offences and will list the names of people found guilty of crimes against minors or even, at the court’s discretion, those still facing criminal charges.

Anybody found guilty of such a crime and listed on the register will not be allowed to do a job that puts him or her in contact with children.

The Bill outlining the setting up of the register was presented to the media yesterday by Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici. It will be published in the Government Gazette today.

Under the proposed law, institutions and companies dealing with children will be obliged to check whether their employees or applicants for a job are listed on the register, which will be held by the court. The register will not be open to public scrutiny.

Sexual offences, drug trafficking involving minors and prostitution of minors are among the crimes listed in the law but it will be at the court’s discretion to consider whether other criminal acts may warrant inclusion of a person’s name in the register.

The court will also have the power to issue interim measures and include a person’s name on the register pending the outcome of a criminal case. The people listed would be on the register for as long as the Court deems fit, depending on the seriousness of the crime.

The draft Bill originally proposed to keep an offender on the register for life but this has been changed so that those listed will now have the possibility of applying to the Criminal Court to have their name removed.

The register will not be retroactive but will include the names of people who have pending criminal cases.

The law, Dr Mifsud Bonnici said, was a statement by the state that it intended to afford the highest protection to minors.

“It creates a balance between society’s interest, the protection of minors and individuals’ rights. It is not aimed to start a witch hunt but achieve the right balance and offer the best care possible for children,” he said.

Dr Mifsud Bonnici said it was his wish for the law to come into force by January 1 but it all depended on the work still pending before Parliament.