Individuals will be given chance to seek domestic violence checks on partners

Individuals will be able to seek information from the police on whether their partner has any pending or previous cases of domestic violence, the government is proposing.

Reforms Parliamentary Secretary Rebecca Buttigieg said an individual in a relationship suspecting something wrong about their partner’s behaviour will be able to file a request with the Victim Support Agency.

She said the police will then establish whether the request is legitimate within the parameters of the law and within 10 days issue a notice indicating whether the partner has had, or is undergoing domestic abuse cases.

“This will enable individuals to make informed decisions about their relationships and is one way of preventing domestic violence,” Buttigieg said.

She was speaking on Thursday evening at the launch the 16-day domestic violence campaign led by the Commission on Gender-based Violence and Domestic Abuse.

The development comes on the same day that Roderick Cassar, 42, from Qrendi was charged in court with the murder of his wife, Bernice Cassar.

The charges qualify the homicide as a femicide, the first time this has happened since the concept of femicide was introduced in the Criminal Code earlier this year.

Bernice Cassar was murdered on Tuesday morning while going to work at the Corradino industrial estate. She was shot in the face and chest.

Bernice Cassar had filed at least five reports of domestic violence against her husband in the preceding months and also obtained a protection order from the courts.