The Malta Labour Party has called for children to be given better access to the courts to have their voice heard.

Justyne Caruana, Labour spokesman on the family and equality, referred to an interview given by Shaun Attard, who was recently reunited with his family in Gozo after a protracted legal battle, in which he urged children to speak out in the courts and express their wishes.

Mr Attard has now been reunited with his father and siblings after two years of family heartache, during which he was living with his mother in the UK.

Dr Caruana said that, although the system had somewhat improved over the years and children were now being heard and given more importance, the situation still left much to be desired, with children often ending up the victims of a ping-pong battle between the parents.

It was not the norm for children’s testimony to be heard in family cases and neither do children have the faculty to apply to be heard by the courts. They were also often denied the possibility of being assisted by a children’s lawyer and, therefore, of being involved in cases that affect them directly.

Dr Caruana called for a homogenous law encapsulating all children’s rights. At present, children were covered by various laws and the more time passed the more the need was being felt for a single, comprehensive children’s law.

It is high time that a review is carried out on where Malta stood in relation to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and what was left to be done to come in line with the convention.