The Cabinet will shortly be presented with a recommendation for a ‘one-stop-shop’ to be created for victims of domestic violence.

Speaking during the second reading of the Victims of Crime Bill, Labour MP Deborah Schembri said this would consist of an area where the necessary medical check-up could be carried out. There would be a special room for the police to take the victim’s statement, the provision of psycho­logical support and a night shelter if a victim felt threatened and could not go back home.

As the chairwoman of the Social Affairs Committee, which had just finalised its report on this issue, she said it was clear that the relevant authorities needed to be given better guidelines on how to treat these victims.

When a woman went to a file a report at a police station, she should not be treated lightly or as a joke, or asked whether she wanted to break up a family, or told not to make a mountain out of a molehill.

When a woman goes to file a report at a police station, she should not be treated as a joke,or asked whether she wants to break up a family

The police were her first port of call and they needed to treat abuse victims with dignity and to appreciate that it was very difficult for a woman to have taken this brave step to ask for help. This was not always the case.

In sexual assault cases, Dr Schembri said, one often heard remarks about how the woman was scantily dressed or why she was out so late, or that “she was asking for it”. Victims needed protection from intimidation, or from damage brought about by the system itself.

Victims should not be re-victimised every time they had to give a statement. And they should not have to tell their story again and again. They had to be treated fairly and this Bill was filling in the gaps in legislation.

While appreciating the progress made during Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici’s term as Justice Minister, there was often a discrepancy between the law and how it was being implemented, she said. Was there a fallback plan for the victims if they were not afforded their rights? This Bill would give victims this protection.

Earlier, Dr Mifsud Bonnici said that one of the most important steps he had taken as parliamentary secretary at the Ministry of Justice in 2003 was to introduce video conferencing for children when they testified. Another change implemented at that time was that child abuse cases would all be heard by one judge. Children’s testimony started being recorded visually and by audio tape, and this evidence would be heard throughout the trial.

The concept of civil damages was also introduced, which meant that the victim did not have to open a new civil case but could be awarded damages during the criminal case.

The PN administration had also made it easier for victims to have their stolen belongings returned to them once they were recorded and no longer required for the case.

The victim of the crime becomes an essential and relevant part of the proceedings and not just merely considered a witness, and could even bring forward her own witnesses.

Compensation to victims was another important concept which came into practice. Dr Mifsud Bonnici said that he had proposed the register for victims, as well as victim-offender mediation to help with repatriation.

He felt that victims should be kept informed when the perpetrator was up for parole and also have the chance to confront the person who had committed the crime to understand why it took place.

He pointed out, however, that there was such a saturation at the courts that amendments implemented in 2004 were still not being put into practice. As Justice Minister in 2008, he had looked into the rights of the accused as proposed by the European Commission.

However, this Bill was a strong statement that the victims of crime needed to be protected. The Bill still needed some fine-tuning, especially with certain termin­ology and he suggested that rather than the terms victim, witness, or injured party, only one term should be used, victim of crime. He praised many of the new amendments being proposed, such as the police being required to send an acknowledgement when a report was lodged and the right of the victim to information about an ongoing case even when no real progress had been made.

He said, however, that more needed to be done when there was a delay in presenting evidence during an ongoing case. Police protection for victims was another commendable proposal.

Dr Mifsud Bonnici pointed out that there were some amendments regarding tariffs which were being applied in court but had not entered into law. This needed to be rectified as this was creating a situation where certain procedures could be declared null.

Ministers Michael Farrugia and Carmelo Abela as well as Luciano Busuttil and Jason Azzopardi contributed to the debate.