An amendment in Chapter 9 of the Laws of Malta, the Criminal Code, will incorporate the introduction of a new crime specifically affiliated to the combating of human trafficking whereby any person who knowingly makes use of the services or labour of a trafficked person or somehow benefits there from will be subject to criminal sanction. Some of the provisions encompassed in Directive 2011/36/EU, on preventing and combat trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims, will be transposed and more stringent penalties in relation to human trafficking adopted.
Furthermore, the Bill will embody amendments based on the recommendations made by the Council of Europe’s Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings, namely GRETA, which focuses on an immediate action to be taken to prohibit the victimization of trafficked persons. In conjunction, the Bill is meant to provide victims of human trafficking offences the right to seek compensation which right currently applies merely to victims of violent intentional crimes. Specific to minor protection, the legislative amendment stipulated that where the victim is a minor then the prescriptive period shall start to lapse as from the day that such person attains the age of majority.
