Evaluating Malta 2020-2021 : prosecution and Court decisions following the implementation of the Gender Based violence and Domestic Violence Unit

Abstract

Purpose - The Maltese authorities pledged to heighten national legislation and revamp current GBV & DV services. Thus, the GBV & DV Unit within the Malta Police Force was set up to provide a specialised service and deal with GBV & DV offences. This study aims to evaluate this Unit's strengths and weaknesses and to evaluate changing trends in criminal court decisions after the implementation of the Unit between 2020 and 2021. Design/methodology/approach – The research aim was fulfilled by an evaluation research design utilising a qualitative method and triangulating two research instruments to cultivate reliability and reduce any consequence of biases (Bowen, 2009) and ethical considerations were addressed. Findings – Reflexive Thematic Analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2019) generated five themes that correlated with sub-themes in a SWOT Analysis. This indicated that the GBV & DV Unit was still struggling to achieve satisfactory convictions and no trends were being altered in how court cases were decided. Research Limitation – The Magistrate process of conviction was not mentioned and data of the decided ones such as P.E, acquittals, withdrawals, and preskriti were not discussed in-depth. Practical Limitation – The researcher assumed that an interview with a Magistrate would be approved and that data provided by the MPF would be more straightforward. Originality/value - The study was an original one as it provides insights into the GBV & DV Unit from its inception in Oct 2020 to Oct 2021. Policies and practices were put forward to sustain the GBV & DV Unit and the Court to improve their context to enable a more effective service to safeguard the victims and convict the perpetrators.