In a landmark court ruling, the state was found guilty of failing to protect a woman’s life from abuse from a previous partner. The woman was awarded €5,000 in moral damages. 

The court ruled that the state had a positive moral obligation to protect the woman’s human rights for private and family life and against inhumane or degrading treatment, which the state repeatedly failed to do. 

According to a report by Times of Malta, it was found that “systematic shortcomings” lead to inefficient remedies for victims as well the prosecution of domestic violence cases. There is currently no centralized office for dealing with such persecution for domestic violence nor is there an internal system to let other police know who is handling certain cases.

Because of these shortcomings, the victim suffered “psychological traumas of a certain severity, not only because of her husband’s behaviour, but also because her husband continued to act with impunity despite the orders issued against him.”

“It is evident that the system has failed, and has failed tremendously,” the court ruled.

The woman was defended by  lawyers Dr. Lara Dimitrijevic and Stephanie Caruana.  According to the Times of Malta, they hailed the court ruling as a “landmark victory for all survivors of domestic abuse.”

This state failure leads to  “re-victimisation,” Dr. Dimitrijevic warned.

“The state has the obligation to protect and ensure that everyone lives free from violence. In the case of domestic abuse, this obligation is no different,” she continued.

“On behalf of our client and all the survivors of abuse, we truly hope that all institutional stakeholders wake up, listen to those suffering and start adhering to their legal obligations,” Dr Dimitrijevic added.