Updated 5.36pm with PN reaction below.

People who assault police officers will no longer be able to walk away with a suspended sentence or conditional discharge.

On Wednesday, Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri published details of a bill that will also harshen jail sentences and fines drastically in the wake of a brawl in Ħamrun two weeks ago in which two police constables were assaulted.

The bill will be tabled in parliament on Monday when parliament convenes after summer recess.

The amendments will apply in cases of assault on all public officials, not just police officers.

How will the law change?

Up until now, a person found guilty of insulting or offending a police or public official would be fined between €800 and €5,000.

With the amended law they face a fine ranging between €1,200 and €7,500.

Attacking or violently resisting an official can already land you in jail for six months and up to two years.

The new law will double that and jail offenders between a year and four years.

For this offence, the minimum fine will increase from €4,000 to €10,000 while the maximum will climb from €6,000 to €15,000.

The punishment will get even harsher if three people or more assault an officer.

Minimum jail sentences will climb from nine months to 18 months and the maximum will increase from three years to six years.

The current minimum fine of €5,000 will triple to €15,000 and could go as high as €22,500.

Assaulting an officer with a weapon will land you an even longer time in jail - anywhere from a year and a half to six years - and a fine that could be as high as €30,000.

If the violent assault is committed in public, the aggressor can expect a jail sentence of seven years and a maximum €25,000 fine.

Judges and magistrates will still be allowed to hand probation sentences.

The PN has also already said it supports harsher sentences. 

‘Majority respect police but even one case is unacceptable’

On Wednesday, Camilleri said the majority of people respected public officials and would never assault them, so much so that over the past seven years assaults on the police decreased by 67 per cent.

“The introduction of body-worn cameras was crucial as a deterrent to people who were thinking of assaulting the police," he said.

Worn bodycams are constantly on, but any footage that is older than two minutes is automatically deleted. Once an officer manually 'switches' on a bodycam, the gadget retains the previous two minutes.

When officers manually switch on a bodycam, other bodycams in the vicinity automatically switch on as well, Camilleri said.

But even one case of assault is concerning and unacceptable and must be addressed, he added.

The Bill was drafted after he consulted with the police and their unions, and met constables Clive Mallia and Aidan Demicoli, who were assaulted after issuing a parking ticket two Saturdays ago in Ħamrun.

Bystanders filmed the assault on their phones and the footage quickly circulated on social media, sparking shock.

Four men and a woman - aged between 23 and 46 - were charged in court with assaulting and injuring the two officers.

They stand accused of forming a mob to cause public fear, violence, insults and threats against public officers, attacking officers on duty, wilful breach of the public peace, wilful damage to public property and causing slight and grievous injuries.

It is understood, however, that the new bill will not apply to the accused in this case, since the crime was committed before the law’s approval.

PN backs amendment, says it proposed the same thing 10 years ago, but the government objected

The Nationalist Party in a statement said it backed the minister's proposal, more so since it had moved a similar Bill 10 years ago. The Bill had been tabled by then Nationalist MP Jason Azzopardi, but the Labour government argued against it, retaining the possibility of lesser penalties through probation and suspended sentences, rather than prison sentences.

In view of the government's objections 10 years ago, the stronger penalties cannot be applied to cases already before the law courts, since such penalties cannot be applied retroactively, the PN said.

"A new Nationalist government will be proactive and make long-term decisions for the benefit of law enforcement officers, as well as for the benefit of Maltese society as a whole," Darren Carabott, shadow minister for home affairs said.

The Opposition's private member's bill 10 years ago would not have allowed judges to hand probation and suspended sentences following convictions for assaulting public officers.   

Azzopardi had argued that probation and suspended sentences did not send a strong enough message against violence against public officials. Many effectively viewed them as acquittals and they offered no real deterrent.

But government MPs Owen Bonnici and Deborah Schembri disagreed, arguing that those kind of sentences were an essential tool for reformative justice.