A case of domestic violence resulted in an appeal by the presiding magistrate, the prosecuting officer and a defence lawyer, urging recent legislative changes to be revisited.
The issue came to the fore in the course of an arraignment, wherein 21-year-old Neil Zammit from Birżebbuġa, a construction worker, was charged over two separate incidents involving his ex partner and members of her family.
Senior prosecuting Inspector Trevor Micallef said that on Tuesday morning, the accused had kicked up a racket outside his ex’s residence, damaging the front door, after having, on Sunday evening, slightly injured the woman.
While the officer informed duty magistrate Ian Farrugia about the circumstances of the arrest, the alleged victim, sporting a black eye, sat on a bench close to where the accused stood. Before the start of the hearing, the couple were seen openly chatting to each other.
The man pleaded not guilty to multiple charges revolving around the two episodes, namely causing his ex and her family to fear violence, driving without a police licence and insurance cover, slightly injuring his victim, threatening her and damaging her front door.
He was further charged with breaching the peace and bail conditions and being a relapser.
Halfway through the hearing, the court was informed that the alleged victim wished to forgive her partner and withdraw her complaint, prompting Inspector Micallef to voice his disapproval as to how the woman had first rushed to the police, only to then change her mind without at least having had the decency to inform the prosecution.
“That’s the kind of respect shown towards the police. Had she informed us, the man could at least have been arraigned under summons, instead of being arrested,” the Inspector said, going on to lament the waste of precious time and resources which such behaviour gave rise to.
Since the recent changes to the law, cases of domestic violence mushroomed, Inspector Micallef continued, referring to how social workers were being called in to assess potential victims who would need to testify before a magistrate at any time of day or night once their case was deemed “high risk”.
In light of such comments, also shared by defence lawyer Franco Debono, Magistrate Farrugia appealed to the authorities to undertake the necessary amendments to rectify the current position which could potentially give rise to a breach of constitutional rights.
A magistrate was only obliged to hear the victim, and not the alleged perpetrator of the violence, before issuing a temporary protection order.
After hearing the accused’s partner declare under oath that she had forgiven him and wanted to withdraw her complaint, the magistrate upheld a request for bail against a deposit of €2,000, a personal guarantee of €3,000, a curfew and an order to sign the bail book three times a week.
Lawyer Anthony Stellini was also defence counsel.