Camilleri says he was kept in the dark over government-commissioned domestic violence report

Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri said in parliament he had not received a government-commissioned domestic violence report which had flagged a number of systematic failures related to the issue.

The €20,000 study, carried out by the Faculty for Social Wellbeing in 2021, had recommended specialised judiciary team dedicated to hearing domestic violence cases to address year-long backlogs, increasing support for burnt-out police officers manning the domestic violence unit, and exploring the use of electronic tagging of alleged perpetrators.

Titled ‘Perpetrators of Domestic Violence: Statistics and Perceptions of Risk Factors for Harmful Behaviour’, the report is yet to be published by government, but was obtained through a Freedom of Information request by the Times of Malta.

The report was commissioned by the Ministry for Tourism, and supported by the Prime Minister’s wife, Lydia Abela.

The suggestions presented in the report were similar to recommendations put forward by an inquiry into the circumstances that led to Bernice Cassar's murder.

Bernice Cassar, a 40-year-old mother-of-two, was murdered by her estranged husband on 22 November as she drove her car behind the MCAST campus in Kordin while on her way to work. She was shot three times and died on the spot.

Cassar's husband, Roderick Cassar, 42, from Qrendi was charged with wilful femicide, an aggravated form of homicide, and remains in custody as the compilation of evidence against him continues. He pleaded not guilty.

Nationalist MP Mark Anthony Sammut questioned Camilleri on whether he should shoulder political responsibility for the shortcomings highlighted in the inquiry.

He replied by saying that his responsibility is that of ensuring the recommendations outlined by the inquiry are implemented.

Sammut then questioned why “the same” recommendations put forward by the domestic violence report had not been implemented earlier, with the minister saying he had not received a copy of it.