The government is analysing eight bids it received from private individuals offering a site or a building to house the new Gozo law court.
This was confirmed by a justice ministry spokesperson. However, he refused to elaborate on the submissions made in response to a call by the government. Neither would he give details on the sites or properties in question.
The same replies were given in parliament in reply to a question by Gozitan Nationalist MP Chris Said.
The Gozo court must be relocated because the present building in the old citadel is not fully accessible to workers, lawyers and visitors. Magistrates, judges, lawyers and court staff operate from a crammed and inaccessible building that was once a palace for the governor inside the citadel.
The present facilities include three tiny courtrooms and several other small rooms used to store documents, court exhibits and files.
Over the years, the caseload increased and the space got smaller, resulting in administrative and logistical difficulties and hardship for the employees and lawyers working there.
Its relocation was promised in the Labour election manifesto and has been on the cards for years.
Plans for relocation were first unveiled by the Nationalist administration in 2012. When Labour returned to power following the 2013 general election, the plan for new premises to be built in another part of Victoria was reviewed but then shelved.
Gozitan lawyers have gone on strike over the conditions of the building where they spend most of their days. According to Avukati Għawdex, the current court building was inaccessible and small for the number of cases instituted in Gozo, where, sometimes, even the room designated for use by lawyers was taken over to hold sittings.
The group held a meeting with Justice Minister Jonathan Attard last July and discussed the main challenges including a shortage of workers and marshals within the court, delays in the notification system as well as the “outdated court building”.
A spokesperson for the lawyers said that, despite promises these issues would be addressed in the shortest time possible, the challenges were still present.
The dire situation at the Gozo courthouse came to a head in 2021 when Times of Malta revealed the court had failed to meet minimum health and safety standards during an audit by the Occupational Health and Safety Authority (OHSA). The watchdog had found multiple shortcomings and even imposed a fine.
Police charges were eventually filed against two senior government officials: Gozo courts director general Mary Debono Borg, 59, of Fontana and Court Services Agency chief executive Eunice Maria Grech Fiorini, 42, of Tarxien.
The charges were dropped at the 11th hour after paying a €1,500 administrative fine imposed by the Occupational Health and Safety Authority.
Borg is the mother of Gozo Nationalist MP Alex Borg.
Aside from the OHSA report, the Gozo law court was also found lacking by the Commission for the Rights of Persons with Disability.
It concluded that the building was not only vertically inaccessible, with stairs being the only way to get from the ground floor to the courtrooms on an upper floor, but also failed the horizontal test because the different floors have several levels.
The commission made a list of recommendations it hoped would deliver a “barrier-free court system” in a building that would be fully accessible and not create any health hazards.
The audit had been ordered by Magistrate Joe Mifsud after a violent incident took place outside his courtroom.
When the magistrate asked for video footage of the incident, he was informed there was no CCTV. Cameras and firefighting equipment have since been installed.