[attach id=245322 size="medium"]Family Minister Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca. Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi[/attach]
The Government is committed to giving children a louder voice in court to avoid situations where they end up feeling “like ping-pong balls” between their parents, Family Minister Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca said yesterday.
Speaking during a meeting with Children’s Commissioner Helen D’Amato, the minister said children were a priority under the new Government.
Asked if the former parliamentary secretary would be kept on in the position – Ms D’Amato was appointed Malta’s third Commissioner for Children in 2010 for a three-year term – Dr Coleiro Preca replied “would she be here otherwise?”
The recent provision of having a child represented in court by a lawyer was a step in the right direction, Dr Coleiro Preca said, however, a lawyer should not be appointed exclusively upon a request from the mediator or presiding judge. The ministry will also be closely examining issues such as fostering, adoptions and care orders.
The Office of the Commissioner for Children will have a more active and central role
Dr Coleiro Preca said the Government would be drawing up a comprehensive law encompassing all children’s rights, after a process of consultation. The law will emanate from existing policies and United Nations conventions.
She added that the act of giving children a voice extended to the public sphere, which was why the Government planned to lower the voting age for local councils to 16.
Ms D’Amato said that, before the election, the Office of the Commissioner for Children had submitted a number of proposals on children in relation to law, protection and security.
Extensive research had been conducted in recent years which centred on children in fostering and out-of-home care, she added.
However, the minister pointed out that the previous ministry had also conducted research on out-of-home care, and wondered whether the two parallel studies were done independently of each other and were therefore an unnecessary repetition.
She added that upon taking over the ministry, the files left behind in the social policy offices were empty, with no documentation regarding what had been done in relation to children.
Dr Coleiro Preca also explained that the legislation enacted by the previous government did not endow the Commissioner’s Office with executive powers. Therefore, it was imperative that the ministry be the coordinating factor, to avoid wasting resources.
She compared the Office to the role of an ombudsman, who listens and subsequently gives recommendations, adding that she wanted it to have a more active and central role.