The reassignment of Judge Robert Mangion to the Civil Court after he served in the Family Court for six years is being seen as a loss by some specialists in family law and child welfare.
The reassignment is part of what appears to be the biggest shakeup in the Family Court since its inception in 2003.
The complement of judges will increase from two to three in response to their increased workload.
Dr Mangion, who has only served in the Family Court since being appointed as a judge in 2012, has over the years earned respect among specialists for his fairness, diligence and child-centred approach in setting care arrangements for children after marital separation.
Lawyers who spoke to The Sunday Times of Malta also characterised him as organised and hard-working.
Asked to confirm or deny the rumours swirling in legal circles that Dr Mangion was himself the one who asked for reassignment, Chief Justice Joseph Azzopardi merely said that “it is normal for judges to be assigned to a different section of the court after a number of years presiding over the Family Court”.
Judge Abigail Lofaro is set to stay put in the Family Court, even though she has served there longer than Mr Justice Mangion.
A case can be made for all judges to receive training, and this especially applies to those who sit in the family courts
The Chief Justice confirmed to The Sunday Times of Malta the appointment of two new judges in Dr Mangion’s stead: Anthony Vella and Jacqueline Padovani Grima.
Dr Vella was appointed judge four weeks ago. He has become a household name as the magistrate conducting the magisterial inquiry into the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia prior to his appointment as a judge.
In recent years the Family Court has been straining under a growing caseload, something that was only partially alleviated by the engagement of judicial assistants (lawyers who hear evidence and report to the judge handling the case). Increasing the number of judges to three is intended to make judges’ individual burdens more manageable.
The reshuffle at the Family Court has raised afresh the issue of specialist training. The two new judges have some narrow experience in aspects of child custody: Dr Vella used to handle cases of child maintenance and access (of a secondary parent) in the criminal court, while Dr Padovani Grima used to deal with cases of child abuse.
Yet care arrangements of children after separation is an expanding and evolving area of specialist knowledge in science and in law, and experts have long lamented that judges (or magistrates, in the case of Gozo) who sit at the family courts ought to have a better working knowledge of the science in particular.
Asked about this, the Chief Justice said that “all judges receive training periodically, and attend seminars locally and abroad”.
“Training at the moment is patchy, it has to be more targeted and comprehensive than now,” a lawyer familiar with the workings of the Family Court said, speaking anonymously so as not to prejudice cases before that court.
“A case can be made for all judges to receive training, and this especially applies to those who sit in the family courts, wherein specialised knowledge is desirable to take informed decisions that have a bearing on children’s well-being and development.
“Broken families caught up in litigation over children have complex issues.”
“Judges often think that a psychological assessment of children caught up in messy custody conflicts satisfies the needs of decision making,” said a court expert who also wished to remain anonymous.
“An assessment provides a snapshot, psychological input has to be more of a process.”