What effects did the Gender-Based Violence and Domestic Violence Act of 2018 have on Maltese court judgements?

Abstract

The crime of domestic violence has been on the increase during the last few years, ranking up as the third most committed crime in Malta. In 2018, Malta ratified the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combatting Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence, otherwise known as the Istanbul Convention, leading to the adoption of the Gender-Based Violence and Domestic Violence Act aimed at combatting the problem of domestic violence and repealing the Domestic Violence Act of 2005. Reports show that often, victims of domestic violence withdraw their initial complaint. Therefore, this study will analyse reasons why Maltese courts dismiss certain domestic violence cases, to better understand why victims withdraw their complaint. The adoption of the Gender-Based Violence and Domestic Violence Act brought forward amendments to the Criminal Code and the Civil Code, enforcing harsher penalties to acts of domestic violence as well as ensuring the protection of victims of such crime. This study compares Maltese judgements delivered before the implementation of the Gender-Based Violence and Domestic Violence Act of 2018 with judgements delivered after the implementation of the Act of 2018. This comparison will be made with the aim to analyse whether the amendments brought forward by the implementation of the Act has been put into practice and its impact on the Maltese Courts.