Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1468438
12 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 22 MAY 2022 NEWS LABOUR MP Rosianne Cutajar has pro- posed introducing a system where po- lice could disclose information to peo- ple about their partner's domestic abuse history. This was in reaction to figures table in parliament which showed that there had been 538 domestic violence reports filed in the four months of 2022. Further- more, in 2021, 1,741 cases of domestic violence had been reported to the police. Cutajar proposed introducing a system similar to the Domestic Violence Dis- closure Scheme (DVDS) in the UK, also known as "Clare's Law" which enables police to disclose normally confidential information about a person's criminal history to someone deemed to be at risk of future abuse. The scheme was introduced following the murder of 36-year-old Clare Wood, murdered by her ex-boyfriend in 2009. Wood was strangled and set on fire at her home in Salford, Greater Manches- ter, in February 2009 by George Ap- pleton, who had a record of violence against women. Subsequently, Clare's Law was rolled out in England and Wales in 2014. MaltaToday spoke to two lawyers, Desiree Attard and Robert Thake, on whether a similar system should be in- troduced in Malta. Attard said that Clare's Law is de- signed to protect very close persons, such as spouses, partners and people who are dating – she said that the scope of the DVDS is much narrower than, for example, the sex offender's registry, where even employers are able to look at it. "Yes, I am all for it. First off, the scope of the law is to empower people to make informed decisions. It's not about pushing people to leave their partner; it's about knowing what you're getting yourself into," Attard said. However, she added that it does not mean the person would be at fault if they stayed. But "at least if you have those red flags that the person is showing, you can go and confirm otherwise. So at least you'd be fully informed of the person's past." Thake also agreed with implementing something similar to the DVDS; howev- er, he cautioned that it must be heavily regulated. "You need to strike a balance between those individuals who are being asked upon and those who are asking for the information. It's all about the nu- ances and the regulation. It can be done well, and in that case, it will be a good law to pass; however, if it's done badly, it can do more harm than good." However, Thake warned that there was a possibility that it could create a cul- ture of victim blaming – "if someone knows about a person's violent conduct because it's disclosed and they still go out with this person believing he/she can change, will it create a culture of blaming the victim if it goes wrong?" But what about a person's right to privacy? Thake says that right is not something that is absolute. "So, it can be trumped… When you're talking about domestic violence, that is some- thing more pressing. I don't think pri- vacy is something that should interfere with this happening provided that the manner in which it is regulated is wa- tertight." Attard agrees: "Data protection legis- lation, not just ours but even at an EU level, does have exemptions for these sorts of things. Not specifically domes- tic violence, but for the prevention of crime, and in my opinion, that it would fall under that category," she explained. Attard cautioned that a few things had to be balanced if the DVDS or some- thing similar was going to be applied in Malta. "The safety of the person who is asking and the right to privacy of asked upon. These things have to be balanced. The way the UK did it is by making sure every Clare Wood was killed by George Appleton, who had a history of violence against women. Her murder sparked the push for the creation of 'Clare's Law' Laura Calleja speaks to lawyers Desiree Attard and Robert Thake about introducing a similar system to Clare's Law in Malta which would allow the police to disclose information to people about their parent's domestic abuse history Do people have the right to check partner's history for abuse? Lawyers Robert Thake (left) and Desiree Attard