The government is open to talks on changes to the law regulating investigations on child abuse, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said yesterday.
Under the current system no criminal action can be taken without the victim's consent.
"It would be a huge mistake to try and solve legal matters from a purely emotional standpoint," Dr Gonzi said.
Calling child abuse "a criminal act of the highest gravity", Dr Gonzi said any legislation had to strike a balance between society's duty to prevent such abuse and the respect towards the wishes of victims and their families.
Judge Victor Caruana Colombo, who heads the Curia's response team on child abuse by the clergy, said last week he did not feel obliged to refer sexual abuse cases that came before him to the authorities because in most cases victims did not want to involve the police or make their suffering public.
"The police will not prosecute unless the victim, or his parents in the case of a minor, gives consent. Even if the police do prosecute, victims can at any time withdraw the accusations unless the crime was performed somewhere accessible to the public or involved violence," the retired judge had said.
Dr Gonzi said: "Our country has good laws. It has strict laws that send out a message. But it is possible that laws drafted years ago might not be suitable to today's needs. So having a professional, scientific discussion that leads us to just conclusions will be positive for the country."
On Thursday, Children's Commissioner Carmen Zammit did not commit to whether the law should be changed but insisted that "first and foremost" the law had to protect children.
She said that in some EU countries the Children's Commissioner had a legal set-up to help children file judicial applications. "Malta does not permit me to do so but I am in discussions with the authorities on the matter," she added.
Dr Gonzi said that even in his time as Social Policy Minister, it was already being discussed whether criminal complaints should remain an integral part of the system of reporting cases of domestic violence or abuse.
"The really delicate part is when it comes to minors because the victim is not capable of taking the best decision for himself, so it depends on his parents for a decision and a lot of times the social scenarios in these cases are very complex.
"So, yes, there are discussions, changes and improvements which have been done but there's a lot left to be done."
dschembri@timesofmalta.com