Drinking age amendments necessary to iron out ‘discrepancies’
The latest amendments to the drinking age limits to 17 affected through a Legal Notice last Friday were aimed at ironing out discrepancies between different laws which had different age limits specified, a Justice and Home Affairs spokesperson told MaltaToday on Wednesday.
Act II of 2009 (the Act of 2009 which implemented the Budgetary Estimates measures) amended articles 185 and 316F of the Codes of Laws of the Police (Cap 10).
“These amendments raised the age of persons to who bar owners could sell alcohol from 16 to 17, as well as changed the definition of a minor,” the ministry spokesperson said.
This effectively created “an anomaly in the law between these articles in Cap 10 and a number of other regulations”, the Justice and Home Affairs spokesperson said, “and this was making the enforcement of these amendments complicated.
“In effect, Legal Notices 269 – 273 of 2009”, which were published last Friday, “bring these other regulations in line with the amendments introduced in the Budgetary Estimates,” he added.
Asked by MaltaToday as to whether the Ministry could confirm that this legal change was in part prompted by an increase in reported crime involving teenagers younger than 17 in places like Paceville, the Justice and Home Affairs spokesperson said succinctly: “There was already an exhaustive political debate on this matter.
“These Legal Notices are the fruit of that debate,” he told MaltaToday on Wednesday Questioned about the human resources that the Ministry has at its disposal to adequately enforce this law, the Home Affairs Ministry spokesperson skirted around the answer.
“Ultimately, these regulations are equipping all Police officers with better tools to enforce the law so as to prevent binge-drinking whilst allowing the consumption of alcohol in moderation,” the Ministry’s spokesperson told Malta Today on Wednesday, without delving into the human resources needed to enforce the new drinking age regulations.
Any comments?
If you wish your comments to be published in our Letters pages please click button below. Please write a contact number and a postal address where you may be contacted.
Download front page in pdf file format
All the interviews from Reporter on MaltaToday's YouTube channel.
