The urgent arrest and arraignment of a Romanian lap dancer has reignited calls for gentlemen’s clubs to be regulated, with Tourism Parliamentary Secretary Mario de Marco urging that “balance” be found.

The law does not specifically mention lap dancing. The police have charged Luciana Loredana Secan, 21, with offending morality and being dressed indecently in public after they allegedly found her giving a topless performance in a Paceville nightclub last Sunday at 3 a.m.

They also charged the 30-year-old owner of Déjà Vu with allowing his property to be used for prostitution.

The incident comes two months after The Sunday Times carried an investigative article, visiting seven gentlemen’s clubs to report on what went on behind the scenes.

According to José Herrera, a criminal lawyer and Labour’s justice spokesman, the authorities are acting with “gross inconsistency” because a large number of clubs are being allowed to operate around the island. They are also advertised extensively to tourists on in-flight magazines.

“But when (the authorities) want to, they take someone and make an example of him,” he said.

The only court judgment relating to lap dancing was handed down in 2007 by Magistrate Antonio Mizzi, who decided the acts in question did not amount to indecency. But the judgment is being appealed by the Attorney General and is currently “stuck” because the lap dancers involved have since left the island.

Dr Herrera said before cracking down on such clubs, the authorities should wait to see if the judgment would be confirmed or not.

“At some point in time it has to be resolved. It cannot remain stuck forever,” he said, pointing out that if the girls were notified the court could decide in their absence.

He said it was clear the authorities were not comfortable with the court’s decision and continued to insist lap dancing was indecent and illegal.

“As I’ve been saying, I think it’s high time for Parliament to legislate and regulate as happens across the EU. Lap dancing should be made legal under certain regulations. As it stands, no one knows what the position is and every now and then the police try to make a show of it.”

One such regulation could be for such clubs to be restricted to entertainment areas, rather than residential ones, and for them to be open only to people over 18. The regulations could also specify that prostitution was not allowed.

He also pointed out that it “didn’t make sense” to arraign the Romanian girl with urgency on a Sunday.

Meanwhile, Dr de Marco said if gentlemen’s clubs were to be “allowed to operate”, they should be placed within a licensing regime to govern what was permissible and what was not.

When contacted, Dr de Marco argued it would be a “mistake” for Malta’s nightlife to become “apparently or effectively a red-light district”, particularly since the core of the island’s nightlife was so close to most five-star hotels.

“In the greater scheme of things, I suspect these clubs – situated where they are and concentrated as they are – are deducting from more than adding to the tourism product,” he added.

However, he said if they were to be allowed to operate, there should be a licensing regime which would seek to protect minors and those who had “no interest in what goes on in these clubs”.

“Again this is a question of balance but one that can only be achieved through proper legislation and enforcement.”

Justice Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici has not yet replied to questions on the issue. In November, the Ministry had told The Sunday Times it was examining the laws regulating this sector “with a view to determine if further regulation is required”.

Ms Secan was charged with breaching Article 209 in the Criminal Code, which states that whoever commits an offence against decency or morals by any act committed in a public place or “a place exposed to the public” shall be liable to a jail term of less than three months and a fine.

She was also charged under another article in the law about crimes against “public order”, which includes exposing oneself or being indecently dressed “in the harbours, on the seashore or in any other public place”.