Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1468438
13 NEWS maltatoday | SUNDAY • 22 MAY 2022 decision the information is disclosed on a case-by-case basis; depending on the type of crime committed and the nature of the relationship, they have a number of checks and balanc- es. This is while keeping in mind data protection and human rights law." She said that disclosure needed to be proportionate and legitimate. "If I go asking, they can't tell me 'yes, he or she did this, and this and they did it to their mother, and then their partner'. They need to give you the basics, such as this person had a do- mestic violence conviction in 2014, and that's it. "In my opinion, that is very fair. Be- cause you're not disclosing too much information, but you are informing the person," Attard said. Thake also agrees that there should be a time limit introduced, but that it needs to go further than that. "If there is someone convicted of do- mestic violence – it can be financial, it could be psychological, and so forth. I've come across individuals who have been found guilty of psy- chological violence and it shouldn't be given the same weight as someone who is a habitual physical abuser," he argued. Thake suggested that once there was a guilty conviction, the judge or magistrate should then make the decision whether the name permits being disclosed or not. "There also needs to be checks and balances for when someone ulti- mately asks for it. There should be a second level at the stage when some- one asks for this information. The re- quest would be sent to a team of ex- perts, and they would in that space in time decide if it should be disclosed." Attard also agreed that a prescrip- tion should be put into place. "I would prescribe it. So that makes it proportionate and also just for the person who is being asked on. This is based on the concept that we be- lieve in second chances; I would not disclose a very ancient conviction," she said. Why stop at just domestic violence? Attard says that the most urgent crime a person needs to know about were domestic violence related. "If you're in a relationship, hope- fully, you are comfortable enough that the other person would tell you their past. But keep in mind that what we're trying to do here is not expose a person but protect another person." Thake said that while he under- stands the sentiment, there is also logic to it. "There doesn't need to be an all or nothing approach. Having everything being disclosed might be taking it too far. There are varying extents to it." lcalleja@mediatoday.com.mt Illegal demolition of Marsaxlokk house, a €50,000 fine later... five- storey guesthouse plans JAMES DEBONO A five-storey guesthouse is being proposed in between two protect- ed two-storey buildings fronting the Marsaxlokk promenade, on the site where a protected building was illegally demolished over a decade ago. But that illegal demolition was lat- er 'sanctioned' – read, regularised – against a €50,000 fine in 2017, when the Planning Authority had issued a permit for a two-storey restaurant develop- ment. The plot stretching between the pic- turesque Xatt is-Sajjieda and the resi- dential Triq tas-Silg, where the hotel is being proposed, is partly located in the Urban Conservation Area where devel- opment cannot surpass two floors. The plans presented by the owners of the site, foresee the erection of three receded floors on the part of the plot which is outside the UCA boundary. A pool area is being proposed on the part of the building where the height is being limited to two storeys. The application is one storey lower than that foreseen in an application re- fused back in 2017 due to its "unaccept- able visual impact". The part of the building fronting Xatt is-Sajjieda was previously occupied by a protected building, which was illegally demolished in 2010. The building was demolished after the police ordered the owner to remove dangerous structures due to falling masonry. Subsequently, a permit was issued allowing the owners to carefully dismantle a dangerous collapsed roof, but not the façade of the old building. But the building was instead demol- ished in its entirety. But in 2017, the Planning Authority not only "sanctioned" the illegal demo- lition of the protected building against a planning contribution of €50,000, but allowed the owners to build a restau- rant and an overlying maisonette in its place. The façade of the restaurant was to be an exact replica of the demolished building and had to be finished in point- ed weathered stone and timber and glass apertures employed. Subsequently, an application was sub- mitted to change the restaurant and an adjacent residential plot fronting Triq tas-Silġ, into a hotel. The proposal also entailed the construction of four new floors just outside the extent of the UCA boundary. But this was refused because of the unacceptable visual impact of the proposed development. The development is being proposed by Itaiana Abela, a director in FSH Fash- ion Retail Ltd and Cieffe Projects, both owned by F Schembri Holdings. in 2017, the Planning Authority not only "sanctioned" the illegal demolition of the protected building against a planning contribution of €50,000, but allowed the owners to build a restaurant and an overlying maisonette in its place