Justice and Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici told Parliament that he felt the Protection of Children (Hague Convention) Bill was of paramount importance because it protected children’s rights. The government was therefore proposing to ratify the Hague Convention on Jurisdiction, Applicable Law, Recognition, Enforcement and Cooperation in respect of parental responsibility and measures for the protection of children.
The convention was concluded in 1996 within the Hague Conference on Private International Law.
Introducing the second reading of the Bill, Dr Mifsud Bonnici said that while parents were bound to protect children, each country had its own legal system and one had to establish which legal system should prevail. Matrimonial conflicts were decided differently in different countries and the Hague Convention sought to maintain legal harmony on the matter.
Certain matrimonial conflicts escalated to diplomacy between countries and, therefore, could be decided according to the relationship a country had with others and not on fixed rules. Fixed rules on the custody of children were needed, he said.
Dr Mifsud Bonnici gave a rundown on the government’s actions to protect children, adding that Malta had also increased fines for offences that related to soliciting children on the internet.
The convention had uniform rules determining which country’s authorities were competent to take the necessary measures of protection. These rules, which avoided the possibility of conflicting decisions, gave the primary responsibility to the authorities of the country where the child had his or her habitual residence, but also allowed any country where the child was present to take necessary emergency or provisional measures of protection.
The convention determined which country’s laws were to be applied, and it provided for the recognition and enforcement of measures taken in one contracting state in all other contracting states.
In addition, the cooperation provisions of the convention provided the basic framework for the exchange of information and for the necessary degree of collaboration between administrative (child protection) authorities in the various contracting states.
The convention aimed to improve child protection in international cases. Children should be protected from abuse created by the non-conformity of different legal systems. It also confirmed that the main consideration should always be the children’s best interests.
Dr Mifsud Bonnici said that there was a need to set up an office that would help in communicating with different legal systems to resolve such disputes faster.
The Bill sought to strengthen seven specific rights of the child, including rights of custody, guardianship, curatorship and analogous institutions and also the administration, conservation or disposal of the child’s property.
Meanwhile, he added, the Maltese legal system could serve as an example to others. While Maltese law believed in mediation in matrimonial conflicts, other legal systems did not as yet apply such mediation. However, the Hague Convention insisted that mediation be introduced.
Concluding, Dr Mifsud Bonnici said the Bill would keep strengthening Maltese legislation, would continue to protect children’s best interests and would protect them from abuses created by the non-conformities that existed between different legal systems.