An overhaul of the way sexual offenders are prevented from working with children has been finalised and will soon be discussed by the Cabinet, the Times of Malta has learnt.
The reform, drafted by lawyers engaged by the Education and Home Affairs Ministries, is based on the system used in the UK, which offers wider information and is administered by trained professionals.
Experts have repeatedly raised concerns about Malta’s current court register system, saying it was too complicated and not comprehensive enough. 
The head of the Church body tasked with investigating claims of the sexual abuse of minors, Andrew Azzopardi, has said most of the victims he saw were reluctant to involve the police or the courts, fearing the embarrassment of their ordeal becoming public.
This, he said, could result in a situation where offenders remained in contact with children because they had never been listed on the court register of offenders.

His concerns were shared by social workers and professionals, who contacted the Times of Malta saying they had raised the matter with the authorities in recent years.
Sources who worked on the reform said it was viewed as the best way to close legal gaps…