Parole Bill about to be published

A Bill on parole is expected to be published in the coming days, according to Justice Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici.

Parole, which is not yet applicable in Malta, would allow some prisoners to be conditionally released to carry out the rest of their sentence under supervision while reintegrating into society.

Speaking during a PN activity yesterday, Dr Mifsud Bonnici joked that the Prime Minister’s Cabinet was always coming up with different initiatives to the point that the media could barely keep up.

His comments come 21 months after a White Paper on parole was presented for public consultation.

A number of prominent people and organisations have been campaigning for the introduction of parole for years, including Labour’s justice spokesman, Jose’ Herrera.

Dr Mifsud Bonnici said there were currently 600 prisoners at the Corradino Correctional Facility and this was testament to the disciplined police force and the well-organised courts.

However, prisoners who were committed to change their ways should be given the necessary tools to do so, he said. While they should pay their dues, the system must make sure that former prisoners did not find themselves again behind bars.

According to the statistics available, one in every two prisoners is generally sent back to jail after being released.

Victims of crime, Dr Mifsud Bonnici pointed out, should be an important part of discussions on laws and reform structures.

“The state needs to provide structures for victims,” he added.

The government was committed to protecting children and a number of amendments had been passed during this legislature to protect them from pornography and abuse.

The registry for the protection of minors did not stop at safeguarding children from paedophiles as happened in most other countries. “We believe there are other crimes, not just sexual, which are just as serious,” he said, adding that the government prioritised the “innocence of children” as a step towards the right to the pursuit of happiness.

The law also enabled the courts to put an offender on the register even before court proceedings had been concluded, in certain cases where there were legal complications but the person posed a genuine and blatant threat.

“Other countries found themselves naked before such things,” he said.