The recent statement by an NGO, Mid-Dlam Għad-Dawl, that life imprisonment should be abolished has rekindled the interesting and controversial debate about this topic of general interest.

It is important to state that, in 2004, the European Commission published a Green Paper in favour of eventually abolishing life imprisonment throughout the EU.

Furthermore, life terms being replaced by prison sentences with indefinite terms would be in line with the views of the European Court of Human Rights.

However, there are still many people who totally disagree with all this and some even go so far as to recommend the reintroduction of capital punishment.

Having spent 12 years of my life working full time as an educator at the Corradino Correctional Facility, I feel I am in a position whereby I can contribute in a worthwhile manner to the debate.

First of all, it is a fact that some crimes are so horrific that one immediately understands why there are still people, even today, who are in favour of capital punishment.

I am totally against even discussing capital punishment, as I believe that the State should never take human life, whatever a person has done.

Reacting to a violent act with another violent act as retribution is simply not on.

Furthermore, capital punishment as a deterrent has failed as is manifested by examples such as those of Texas in the US where, despite the frequent use of capital punishment, the murder rate remains a very worrying one.

However, the argument about life imprisonment is rather more complicated. The best thing is to give some examples from my own experience.

Let us start with a case which is so horrific that one would almost justify people who would state that it deserves a sentence of capital punishment. Instead, under our current legal system, the culprit gets a sentence of life imprisonment.

Should such a person become eligible for parole after a substantial amount of time has been served behind bars?

Some people would say that the horrific nature of the crime should bar the perpetrator from any chance of ever returning as a free person within society. Others might retort that a prisoner can change and become a much better person and should not go on being punished for the rest of their life.

However, even here we face a big problem. Perhaps only those of us who have spent long years working with prisoners can fully understand the nature of this problem.

The crucial questions are: how do you know that a person has genuinely reformed? What if they are simply taking you for a ride because feigning reform is to their benefit?

I remember several cases where prisoners were exemplary in their behaviour while within the CCF, only to resort to a life of crime again as soon as they were given their freedom.

In other words, can you really objectively evaluate the ‘reform’ of an offender? From experience, I don’t think so.

On the other hand, this does not mean that a prisoner cannot really reform themselves. If the CCF were to really function as an institution of rehabilitation, then the reform of prisoners would be possible.

Whether it is currently being successful in rehabilitating prisoners or otherwise is another matter of considerable controversy.

However, the potential is there and, with goodwill from all those involved, positive results can be achieved.

I have encountered several cases whereby prisoners sentenced for very serious crimes seem to have genuinely reformed themselves. Some have left the facility, found jobs and seem to have left their life of crime.

I use the word ‘seem’ because one can evaluate how genuine ‘reform’ really is only after many years have elapsed and, even in such cases, one can never be sure of the results.

I say this because there have even been cases where a prisoner who seemed to have totally reformed themselves committed a very serious crime many years after having been released.

All this suggests that we should be very careful when weighing the pros and cons of abolishing life imprisonment. I remember that the lowest point of my career as a correctional educator was reached when, on one particular afternoon, I heard a heated discussion going on between two convicted murderers in one of the prison yards.

One of the prisoners was boasting he had the guts to kill his victim in broad daylight in front of everyone and without flinching. The other retorted that his murder was even more brutal and so he was more macho than him.

So my question is: are we suggesting that such people who show absolutely no remorse for their horrific crimes and even boast about them should be spared life imprisonment?

We have to reflect carefully about this question of life imprisonment as it can have very serious repercussions for society. We need a well-informed and dispassionate debate on this thorny question.