A Council of Europe push for Malta to debate access to abortion has been firmly rebuffed by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat.

COE Human Rights commissioner Nils Muiznieks had urged Dr Muscat to kick-start an “open and informed public debate on women’s access to abortion,” and to begin the process of decriminalising abortion, having said during a visit to Malta that he was “taken aback” by Malta’s “restrictive” stance on the issue.

But in a reply dated January 8, Dr Muscat shot down the request, telling Mr Muižnieks  that “my Government neither has the political mandate to open a debate on access to abortion, nor the support of the public opinion on this matter”.

Mr Muižnieks wrote his letter to Dr Muscat following a four-day visit to Malta held in November, during which he met with the Prime Minister, civil society members, key stakeholders and paid a visit to the Ħal Far open centre.

Domestic violence

In his letter, the COE commissioner urged the Maltese government to ensure that a domestic violence bill to be debated in parliament in the coming weeks gave victims adequate remedies while effectively sanctioning perpetrators.

Mr Muižnieks urged Dr Muscat to allocate more money to social care for domestic violence victims and to address a shortage of places in women’s shelters.

Police, prosecutors, magistrates and judges dealing with domestic violence cases needed training to ensure they handled such cases appropriately, he added, noting that there were concerns about domestic violence being underreported, in part because victims did not trust the police to investigate.

WATCH: Commissioner 'taken aback' by lack of debate about abortion

Domestic violence claims have cast an ever-growing shadow over Malta’s police force since Mr Muižnieks’ visit to Malta in November: earlier this month, an assistant commissioner quit after his partner accused him of headbutting her during an argument, while just two weeks later a policeman named ‘officer of the year’ had the award revoked after the Times of Malta revealed that he faced multiple reports of domestic violence.

What's in the bill?

The Gender-Based Violence and Domestic Violence Act bill being tabled in parliament will integrate the Istanbul Convention into local law and replace an existing domestic violence act.

In effect, it will introduce harsher penalties for anyone found guilty of domestic violence, tighten cooperation between state agencies tasked with managing such cases and empower a commission on domestic violence to oversee implementation of the law. 

It will also empower police to order a suspected abuser out of the family home (rather than forcing the victim to seek shelter elsewhere) and allow officers to press charges even when the victim changes their mind and withdraws their claims.

Read Mr Muižnieks' letter and Dr Muscat's reply in the PDF files below.