Gibraltar News 5th October 2012 Sex offenders not to be put on register retrospectively People who have already

been convicted and have served their time for sex offenc es will not be put on the sex offenders register retrospectively. The Government have decided to limit the scope of the register to people already serving senten ces and those who will be convicted in the future. An amendment to the Crime Act 2011 was approved by majority in parliament last week. Minister for Justice Gil bert Licudi said that a lot of thought had been put in to the decision not to in clude previous offenders because of the huge effect it could have on their famil ies and because of the fact that their sentence had been served. Reaction to the amendment has come from areas of society. There has been huge dissent across So cial Media sites, with people saying that safety should come before privacy. The GSD are also strongly opposed to the amendment and have stated that they are mo re concerned about foreigners coming in to Gibraltar with previous convictions f or sex offences. The Act doesnt allow for the authorities to subject them to the notification requirements associated with the register, because the offence occu rred before the start of the act. Deputy GSD Leader and former Minister for Just ice Daniel Feetham will be writing to the government to urge them to rethink the amendment before it comes in to force in two months time. There has also been s trong opposition from The Gibraltar Womens Association who have called the amendm ent disgusting and also said that the law protects the offenders and not the vic tims and the feelings of the offenders and their families is not as important as those of the victims. They also stated that The offenders and their families wil l have served their sentence but the victims and their families will be serving a life sentence. The register is not a public document and will only be seen by a ppropriate professionals. Chief Minister visits The Royal Gibraltar Regiment in Morocco Chief Minister Fabian Picardo has been with The Royal Gibraltar Regiment in Marr akesh, Morocco for the last two days. The regiment have been carrying out Exerci se Jebel Sahara. The Chief Minister was accompanied by Commanding Officer, Lt Co l Colin Risso and was with the regiment when the carried out a Deliberate Assault. The dawn assault was to show the tactics that would be used to clear an area, s imilar to that which is currently being experienced by other troops deployed in British operations. Mr Picardo told the regiment that he and the whole of Gibral tar were proud them and of the work that they do, both home and abroad. He also met with Officers from the Moroccan Second Parachute Infantry and was also brief ed by Lt Col Oumghari of the 2BIP on the importance to the Moroccan forces of Ex ercise Jebel Sahara. Fabian Picardo said "It has been a huge privilege to have b een allowed to see the men and women of the Regiment in the training camp in Mar rakesh and witness the work they do whilst on exercise. Cruise passengers to be offered City Hall Tours As part of the governments strategy to bring more cruise ships to Gibraltar, Mini ster for Tourisim Neil Costa has met with eight leading Cruise Directors. Gibral tar will be offering exclusive tours to passengers on The Ocean Countess. Today 90 passengers went on the Gibraltar Delights and Mayors Parlour Tour, where Mayor Lima held a reception for them and they were able to learn more about the histo ry of the City Hall. Neil Costa said his new tour proves that Gibraltar can easil y facilitate tailor made solutions for our cruise ship customers, depending on t heir demands. Together with the shore excursion agents, we continue to work on n ew products so as to enhance the visitor experience of our cruise passengers. Sign-up to www.GibBook.com - Gibraltar s Social Network