Protecting the victims of crime | Byron Camilleri

As a government we are constantly reforming our conventional systems to ensure that no one is left behind.

Up until recent years, the national services were mostly focused on rehabilitating the perpetrators of crime, whereas victims of these crimes had minimal access to services protecting their rights during such a sensitive period of their life.

The rehabilitation of people who have failed society is well within the agenda of this government, whilst in parallel we understood that we should also be working to bolster the assistance provided to victims. Our main aim is to protect victims whilst paving their way towards a better way of life.

During the past days Earlier this week, I launched the Victims Support Agency, which shall be offering holistic support to the victims of crime. All this shall be achieved through our commitment to provide all the necessary support and protection that the victims of crime may need, together with assisting in reducing the impact of the post crime trauma.

First tangible measures came into force with the Victims of Crime Act, as steered by the government in 2015. This legislation instituted new principles to the rights, support, and protection of victims. Further to this law, in 2017 the Victims Support Unit was set up as a specific unit within the Police Force. Through this unit, assistance was being provided to victims filing a police report. This unit served as a point of reference not only to victims of crime but also to their relatives, by providing them with immediate assistance and in some cases, a shoulder to cry on. Similarly, other services were being offered to victims and their families by the department of probation and parole.

Following these improvements, we felt that we needed to take it a step further. A new agency is now set up, motivated by the services already available through the Victims Support Unit within the Police Force, the Department of Probation and Parole, and the Hate Crime Unit, together with other professionals who shall be recruited in due course.

Today, I am satisfied to have launched an agency providing the fundamental forms of holistic assistance to the victims of various forms of crime. From legal assistance, to psychological support, to providing victims with a care plan that caters for their every need, the Victim Support Agency is well-equipped to truly assist victims during one of the most vulnerable moments in their life.

In being thoughtful to the sensitivity of most cases, the new agency is providing a safe and private environment, in which the victims feel comfortable to speak freely and confidentially. Victims will also be being given all the relevant information about their respective rights and various other forms of relevant resource.

The main reform is now in place. As a government we are prioritising victims of crime, by having the police force and other important professionals working together for a common goal.

In delivering another electoral promise, this Government is assisting victims in combating the suffering and unrest created by acts of crime. We shall be keeping up the pace to work and facilitate the willingness of victims to cooperate with the investigative role of the Police, together with the respective prosecutorial proceedings before Courts, so that justice is indeed done to the same victims.

I also look forward to further strengthening the variety of services offered by the new Agency, with the recruitment of more professionals, and new collaborations in the best interest of victims.

As a progressive government, we shall continue putting all our efforts to have a fairer society, with ambitious and beneficial reforms towards the good of all the Maltese and Gozitan people.

Byron Camilleri is minister for home affairs and national security