A set of immediate reforms announced that will further strengthen the correctional systems in our country
Following the publication of the Auditor General’s report on the Correctional Services Agency, and even as in the last few days the Board of Inquiry which scrutinized the operation of the same agency has completed its work, Minister of the Interior, National Security and Law Enforcement Byron Camilleri announced a set of reforms that will further strengthen the corrective field in the country.
In the light of all this, and in the context of these two reports, a set of key reforms will be put in place immediately which will strengthen the scrutiny systems in the Agency for Corrective Services:
Establishment of an independent Commissioner for the Protection and Development of Prisoners;
Strengthening the Monitoring Board of the Kordin Correctional Facility;
More checks and balances in the system
Working together with voluntary organizations working closely with prisoners as already done on various initiatives;
Systems that strengthen the psycho-social situation of prisoners;
Better reintegration of those who have served their prison sentences, with a view to combating the vicious circle of crime and preventing the creation of new victims.
With these and as announced in the 2022 Budget, work has begun on the Massimiliano Kolbe Rehabilitation Centre, within the boundaries of the Kordin Correctional Facility. This new centre will be the first of its kind, and will serve to create a new system at different levels of security in the same correctional facility, while strengthening the rehabilitation process. The building will accommodate 140 prisoners, and will offer a range of rehabilitation facilities.
On the clear order and systems that are in place today in the Correctional Services Agency and which were also recognized in the two reports mentioned, work will continue to provide more opportunities for prisoners. All this in the parameters that prisons remain safe places and in which both prisoners and all officials, walk and act according to the rules.
