ADDRESS BY THE MINISTER FOR HOME AFFAIRS DR. TONIO BORG DURING THE INAUGURATION OF THE NEW ADMINISTRATIVE COMPLEX AND LOCK UP AT POLICE HEADQUARTERS FLORIANA 17 JULY 2001

Honourable Colleagues,
Your Excellencies,
Permanent Secretaries,
Commissioner of Police
Ladies and Gentlemen,

The idea of this project which is being inaugurated this evening was born in virtue of a Cabinet Decision of the 11^th September, 1995. On that date Cabinet approved in principle my recommendations to construct a new Administrative Complex and Lock-Up at Police Headquarters. In my submissions to Cabinet, I had described the situation as it was then. In fact at that time the offices of the Vice Squad, Interpol and the Forensic Laboratory and the Criminal Investigation Department were housed in 11 stores constructed in the form of huts. All were plagued, in different degrees, by widespread dampness and the situation bordered on the desperate. These stores were 34 courses high, though only 10 courses could be put to use, and the dividing walls were, in several areas, 10 feet wide, with the consequence that only a third of the surface area could be utilised.

The lock-up was in an even worse situation. It consisted of 26 cells crammed in two of the aforementioned stores. Not one of the cells had any direct access to ventilation or natural light. There were no sanitary facilities in any one of the cells.

In 1994 a local Court in a 1986 case stated as follows:-

‘The Court was concerned about the condition of the lock-up at Police Headquarters which in its considered opinion is such, that in its global effect, may be qualified as constituting an environment which degrades the human person and his personality.’ (Joseph Azzopardi vs Commissioner of Police 14.12.94)

The Court observed that after its visit to the lock-up, it was of the opinion that:

The Court criticized the restricted amount of light in the cells, the dearth of sanitary services, the lack of air circulation and natural light and the lack of ventilation. The Court then added:-

In its 1990 Report, the Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) observed the following about these very premises:-

‘The cells are very small, poorly lit, and oppressive in design’

and even condemned further the fact that this site, which barely offered decent accommodation to whoever was kept there for 48 hours, accommodated also illegal immigrants who spent on some occasions entire months in detention.

In 1995, the CPT reiterated the following:

In the light of the above, Cabinet took the wise decision way back in 1995 to construct this Complex and in the 1996 Budget, Lm800,000 were allocated for Police Capital Expenditure, indeed a record sum which would cover in part the expense for the commencement of construction of this new edifice’. Today this Complex will not eliminate the problems which have caused us so much embarrassment as a civilized country, but will also house, in a much better environment, the offices of the special squads and divisions of the Police Corps.

An investment of this type has two main merits. First of all the working environment of our Police Officers is being improved, irrespective of rank. This should increase the job satisfaction of the members of the Force, and may I dare say, their productivity. Secondly, we are publicly declaring that today’s Police Force, while fully committed to enforcing law and order in the fight against crime, is also committed to the principle that this fight is executed with legal means and in virtue of the law and in respect of human rights.

Winston Churchill once said:-

‘The mood and temper of the public with regard to the treatment of crime and criminals is one of the most unfailing tests of the civilization of any country’

If this is true in respect of prison detention for persons sentenced by a Court, it is even more applicable to the detention of arrested persons who are only suspected of having committed a crime at this preliminary stage of the investigation, the presumption of innocence is even stronger and therefore it is only fair that nothing should be done to deliberately harass or intimidate the arrested person, not even through the material surrounding conditions of such person’s detention.

All this may appear as an exercise in hair-splitting or faint-heartedness by those who consider the fight against crime to justify all, including the concealment of faults and irregularities. I do not view things this way. Nor does Government. That is why we are opening this Complex today to strengthen the fight against crime; but this Complex will be guaranteeing dignified conditions to those who will work here, or be accommodated within the precincts of these premises, public officials and private citizens alike.

The responsibility for the fight against crime does not fall only on the shoulders of the Force; it is also shouldered by the legislator, the Administration, and finally it is our responsibility as well.

Ladies and Gentlemen,