Convicted minors, under the age of 16, could be able to serve time in a separate wing for young teens within a new prison section designed for juveniles, a Justice Ministry spokesman said.
A few months ago, Justice Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici announced that the young offenders’ unit rehabilitation services (YOURS), within the Corradino Correctional Facility in Paola, would be transferred to a location outside the prison compound.
The new section, for inmates under 21, would include an area for girls and the authorities were considering the possibility of having a separate section for under-16s, the spokesman said.
But before deciding on the section for those under the age of 16, which would include specialised programmes, the authorities had to look into whether the venue would constitute the best environment for young offenders, he said.
The location remains undisclosed because the government still has to purchase the land and apply for a planning permit. The move will allow for more space in the adult prison. No dates have been set so far.
Apart from the separate wards for adult men and women, the prison caters for young men in the YOURS section. However, whenever a young woman is sentenced to prison she ends up staying with adult female offenders.
The lack of facilities for convicted girls came to light recently when a 16-year-old girl was jailed for three months for theft.
Mr Justice David Scicluna, sitting in the appeal court, ordered that the girl be kept in a shelter while serving time. He noted the lack of general facilities to deal with troubled young girls.
The girl, whose name cannot be published since she is a minor, has been institutionalised since the age of three and was caught in a vicious circle because she had nowhere to live. She was detained in the prison female section last year when she was remanded in police custody after breaching bail conditions.
The case of the girl’s incarceration had spurred the Children’s Commissioner to commission a report into the juvenile justice system. The report, released in February, made various recommendations including the need to overhaul the juvenile justice system.
It said incarceration should be the very last resort and the government should ensure there were a range of options to imprisonment.
Children’s Commissioner Helen D’Amato welcomed Mr Justice Scicluna’s ruling to send the girl to a shelter. The girl was moved to a shelter for domestic violence victims on Tuesday, six days after the judgment.
“It goes to show that prison is not the only option for convicted youngsters,” Mrs D’Amato said.
A task force led by Mrs D’Amato and including representatives from the ministries responsible for health, education and justice, as well as a member of the Office of the Prime Minister and lecturer Andrew Azzopardi, who specialises in social inclusion, was set up in March.
Mrs D’Amato said the task force, that has already met about five times, was working on formulating an interim document, based on the report’s recommendations, in which it would make various proposals to ministries.