21.0 Implementation of the Restorative Justice Act
The Commission took note of the proposals made by Mr Natalino Attard, Director of the Department of Probation and Parole dated 28 June 2013. A copy of this report is attached as Appendix IX to this Report. The Commission is of the opinion that this document should be adopted in toto since it makes useful and valuable suggestions in this area.
RECOMMENDATION THIRTY-TWO:
MEASURE 418: Adoption of Appendix IX: the Commission is recommending that the Government adopts the suggestions reproduced in Appendix IX to this Report. The Commission also recommends that the structures provided in this Act are to be set up and start functioning.
MEASURE 419: Victim Offender Mediation: Mediation had a great boost abroad, not only in civil, commercial, family, administrative, work sectors, but even in the criminal sector where the so called victim offender mediation takes place. The law should therefore not only provide the legal framework for this type of mediation but training on victim offender mediation should be given to all institutions involved in the administration of justice so that an application for this type of mediation would be possible to be made.
MEASURE 420: Offender Assessment Board ( OAB ) and Parole Board: It is being suggested that the Parole Board should have a Handbook to help them on how to proceed in every circumstance. For this purpose it is necessary to have a Handbook for Parole Board Members which gathers the relevant provisions from both the Act and the Regulations, as well as procedures applied in other countries, particularly that of Ireland. It is important that every member of the Parole Board will therefore be, in cognisance of the Restorative Justice Act (Chapter 516 of the Laws of Malta ), as well as the Handbook. Likewise a Handbook for Offender Assessment Board Members should be prepared.
MEASURE 421: Project Leader: For this reform to be successful a Project Leader at the Ministry for Justice responsible to coordinate all activities, monitor, take certain decisions, prepare an implementation plan, etc. should be appointed. This serves to have an officer specifically responsible for this reform who will have all the support for this reform to be implemented in an effective, economic and efficient way. This office should also be given financial resources to carry out the initiatives and activities needed for the making of this reform ( ideas are listed in Section 5 below) .
MEASURE 422: Parole Clerks: The Restorative Justice Act ( GR ) provides that there will be Parole Clerks, and the purpose for this was to avoid a situation where there will be added pressure on the Parole Clerk if only one is appointed, besides the benefit of work- sharing and the continuation of work when one is on vacation leave or sick leave.
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MEASURE 423: Forums: It is important for all stakeholders to have a forum to meet regularly and particularly discuss the difficulties encountered. The initiative taken by the Department of Probation and Parole for the establishment of the Restorative Justice Management Committee was precisely to have a forum comprising the entities mostly involved (Ministry, Correctional Facility, Dip. Probation and Parole, Police, Court) to discuss matters of policies and proposals for amendments to the laws, and administrative and logistical matters. It is necessary, however, that this Committee convenes regularly (at least once a month).
Furthermore, it is also necessary for everyone involved in the field of criminal justice: Police, Prison, Probation Services, Judiciary, Lawyers, etc. to have the opportunity to have a seminar (a day or two) to discuss all aspects of the provisions and implications of the Act on the GR, as well as on how they will be working together so that the implementation of this law will be an effective and efficient one and operated in the most economic way. MEASURE 424: Education and Information Campaign: It is necessary to have an educational and informational campaign for the general public and for anyone interested (example: academics, researchers, students, etc.). It is recommended that for this aim there will be an education and information campaign which will be spread as follows :
• Information and Education for the public - using all information mediums, in particular the public broadcasting, newspapers, the internet, social media, publications, etc. ;
• Information to all prisoners - through informative seminars for eligible prisoners, divided into groups ;
• Seminar for all stakeholders, including non-governmental organisations involved in offender management and the provision of services (example; Caritas, Sedqa,
Appogg, Fondazzjoni Mid-Dlam għad-Dawl, Fondazzjoni Suriet il-Bniedem , etc..)
• National Conference – which will be open to anyone interested.
We believe that public information should be a priority at the moment to clarify any doubts and remove the impression of some that nothing has been prepared.
178 22.0 Other Recommendations
There are other measures, of miscellaneous nature, that the Commission wishes to put forward.
RECOMMENDATION THIRTY-THREE:
MEASURE 425: Frequent amendments to the laws of procedure: Unfortunately, the civil and criminal procedure laws are being amended frequently and at piecemeal. It is therefore necessary not to have disjointed amendments to these laws so that these laws will be amended in a more holistic way by appointing a Commission to study the amendments needed for these laws and this exercise will not only focus on a few dispositions but on the Code or on the Act of Parliament in full. When amendments are made piecemeal, as happened in the past, new problems are created because either no consequential amendments are made to other laws or there will be dispositions in different laws, or even in the same law, that contradict themselves. Again, these amendments were not put into effect all at once but over a period of time and through a considerable number of legal notices in a way that one does not even have the slightest idea of which dispositions have come into force and of which have not. Very little room remains for the right of certainty with this method of legislation.
MEASURE 426: Lack of adequate security in the Courts’ building: While there exist some form of security at the entrance of the Courts‟ building, there is very little security in the corridors, registers and in courtrooms. Although the Code of Organisation and Civil Procedure provides in article 68 that the bailiffs must guard the building of the Courts, this never happens. There is not even a private security agency that offers the service of security guards in the building of the Court, like for example, at Mater Dei hospital, except in the waiting room adjacent to the rooms housing the mediation procedures in the Family Court. The Commission therefore suggests that either this disposition be enforced or removed and other security arrangements in the Courts building be made.
MEASURE 427: Prosecution Unit in the Police Force: The Police Force had set up a Prosecution Unit within it, with the scope that prosecution will no longer be made by officials in the police force, usually Inspectors, but by this Unit. Although it is a commendable measure it is necessary that this Unit is given the required human resources to function better than the very limited way it is doing today. This Prosecution Unit may be delegated by the General Prosecutor with the performance of functions of Prosecutor in the inferior Courts.
MEASURE 428: Archives of the Courts: The courts‟ processes up to 1899 had been transferred to Santo Spirito in Rabat, Malta. From the point of view of the Maltese archival, these processes have great historical value in relation to the development of the legal system and of Maltese society. Few of these processes are studied. Ideally, this material should be scanned to be maintained in electronic format and loaded on the internet so that researchers will have better access to it. With regards to the civil and criminal processes that are still held in the building of the Courts in Valletta, this Commission has been informed by Professor Raymond Mangion, Head of Department of History and Methodology in Faculty of Law at the University of Malta, that part of the processes are