Justice Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici told Parliament on Monday that the Restorative Justice Bill was “a quantum leap in Malta’s judiciary system”.
Winding up the debate in the second reading of the Bill, he described it as “very ambitious, albeit a conservative one”. This was a new dimension to the re-integration process, he said.
The Bill aimed to provide persons with the incentive and faculty to avoid backsliding into crime. It allowed for the creation of a new balance between the reformed perpetrator and society’s interests. As each case was different, there should not be any automatic system.
Dr Mifsud Bonnici acknowledged that some persons needed help to change and improve their lives. The proposed structure ensured this assistance. The Bill would avoid difficulties experienced in other countries.
Turning to victims of crime, he said the Bill would ensure situations of reparation which, although not unilateral, would see to it that both victims and perpetrators understood their position. The factor of forgiveness was a determining one.
The programme was a very ambitious one but, as other countries had experienced, helped victims and perpetrators alike. It also allowed for the reform of perpetrators and did away with the black clouds they walked under. He added that there was a need for a mechanism to show society that the person was indeed reformed and could avoid relapsing.
The minister said there was a need for incentives for prisoners to participate in educational reform programmes. There was an increase in the number of internet crime. Now more than ever there was a need to have a system whereby one could make up for one’s wrong actions.
Dr Mifsud Bonnici called for consensus by both sides of the House in what he called this uphill battle. “We can no longer shut persons in prison and not offer reform opportunities.”
He said this reformative process was ambitious, the results of which would start to be enjoyed in the next four or five years. There was an ever-growing number of people entering prison a number of times.
Turning to parole, Dr Mifsud Bonnici said there was a need for a system that guaranteed transparency and avoided useless complications. Should we limit it to juvenile delinquency or to those sentenced for less than five years? he asked.
One needed to move forward in this regard. He called for the media to be more positive as they were spreading a negative message on the corrective facility.
This Bill was something for the common good. This was the perfect time to introduce such a Bill, and future justice ministers would need to assure proper continuity. One now needed to take proper action in this regard.
The need to combat juvenile delinquency was crucial, now more than ever. Focusing on it now would mean the avoidance of similar problems in the future, Dr Mifsud Bonnici said.