Caruana Colombo confirms Church not obliged to report sex abuse cases

Malta Independent
by Francesca Vella
25 April 2010

Judge Victor Caruana Colombo, head of the Archbishop’s Curia’s Response Team, that was set up to deal with cases of child sex abuse by members of the clergy, has confirmed to The Malta Independent on Sunday: “At the moment there is no law in Malta obliging the Church to report child sex abuse cases to the police.”

The Malta Independent on Sunday spoke to Judge Caruana Colombo, particularly in view of somewhat conflicting media reports regarding the interpretation of the new Vatican guidelines vis-à-vis the work of the Response Team.

The guidelines make it clear that child sex abuse cases should be reported to the police, if required by law.

A few days before Pope Benedict’s two-day visit to Malta last week, Judge Caruana Colombo was reported as saying in MaltaToday: “My assessment on this is that the investigation (by the Response Team) will not take place… When there is a report of sexual abuse on minors, the Church – the bishop or whoever is in charge of this matter – reports the case directly to the police.”

Despite this, Judge Caruana Colombo was later reported as telling www.di-ve.com that “…the guidelines would not, in any way, impinge on the Response Team’s operations – unless Maltese law is changed”.

He confirmed this version when he spoke to this newspaper this week, saying: “the law as it stands does not impose the Church to report sex abuse cases to the police”.

Judge Caruana Colombo’s comments prior to the papal visit were interpreted by some people as a form of a whitewashing exercise to make it seem that the new guidelines will greatly improve the way the Church deals with sex abuse by its members. But the judge explained what he meant when he said the guidelines will spell the end of the Response Team, saying that this would be the case “if the guidelines were to be understood that the Church would report cases directly to the police or the civil authority”.But the guidelines are crystal clear:
“Civil law concerning reporting of crimes to the appropriate authorities should always be followed”.

Asked what is meant by “civil law”, Judge Caruana Colombo said: “Civil law refers to the law of the state. “And, no, the law of the state does not impose on the Church (the obligation) to report cases of sex abuse,” he insisted.According to criminal law, he explained, in cases of sex abuse the police cannot proceed ex-officio unless they have the victim’s consent, or that of the victim’s parents or legal guardians in the case of minors.

This clearly poses another problem for minors in orphanages who might be suffering abuse at the hands of their legal guardians – the nuns or priests running the orphanages. In the same way, it also poses a problem for minors suffering abuse at the hands of one or, worse still, both their parents.There are exceptions, explained Judge Caruana Colombo; if the abuse happened in public and/or with violence, the police can then proceed ex-officio without the victim’s consent.

This clearly means that the Vatican’s recently published guidelines will not change much in Malta unless, as Judge Caruana Colombo said, the law is changed.

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi recently referred to the government’s openness to discussing possible changes to the law regulating the investigation of child abuse cases.But it is yet to be seen where that discussion will take place, in what way the law will be changed, if it will be changed, and how soon this will happen.