Two magistrates hear all the cases in Gozo, including those that would normally be assigned to judges in Malta. In a community roughly the size of Birkirkara’s, the problem of familiarity is bound to arise. Victor Paul Borg offers some new insights into the workings of the Gozitan courts.

Long-standing plans to assign a judge to Gozo, whose civil courts are served by two full-time magistrates, are set to remain unimplemented even after this week’s retirement of Magistrate Paul Coppini.

This was revealed by high-level justice officials who spoke to Times of Malta anonymously.

Appointing a judge, or judges, to Gozo to handle a class of superior lawsuits had been a Labour Party electoral promise. The expectation now is that a magistrate will be assigned to Gozo to replace Magistrate Coppini.

Magistrates are supposed to hear cases involving disputes on amounts of between €5,000 and €15,000, as well as some other types of cases. However, Gozo’s civil court has until now been served by two magistrates who handle cases of higher worth and rank, including family court cases which in Malta are heard by judges.

Justice Minister Owen Bonnici was reported as saying in the middle of last year that the promised measure would be implemented in subsequent months.

Legal ground had already been laid in Parliament in January 2018 with the passage of Act No 1 of 2018, which extended jurisdiction of Malta’s Civil Court’s First Hall and the Family Court to Gozo. Yet the legal provisions were not put into effect.

The understanding in legal circles had been that the government would wait until the retirement of Magistrate Coppini, who has been serving exclusively in Gozo, before rolling out the measures.  

The justice sources now say that the law’s provisions pertaining to the Gozo court remain up in the air. A spokesperson for Dr Bonnici did not reply to questions on whether Act No 1 of 2018 would be put into effect upon or in the aftermath of Magistrate Coppini’s retirement.

Is a judge necessary?

Justice experts hold that the lack of a judge has no impact on litigants’ situation, or the quality of justice in Gozo.

In replies to questions by Times of Malta, Chief Justice Emeritus Vincent Degaetano said that having judges – as opposed to magistrates – hear cases that fall within the competence of the Civil Court’s First Hall and the Family Court would “not necessarily” improve the quality of judgments and overall administration of justice in Gozo.

He said: “The hierarchical system of courts, based on the wider competence and jurisdiction of the higher tribunals, does not imply that a magistrate is less legally qualified or prepared to handle certain cases than a judge.”

The crux will always lie in the competence of the person sitting in judgment- Former Chief Justice

He mentions examples of “some magistrates who are superior in legal skills as well as in case management than certain members of the Bench of Judges.

Upgrading, as it were, the post – from magistrate to judge – is merely a cosmetic change. The crux will always lie in the competence of the person sitting in judgment.”

Lawyers’ concern

Although the act passed by Parliament does not specify whether a judge would be appointed to Gozo full-time, or if different judges in Maltese sister courts would absorb Gozitan cases and cross over to hear them, the understanding in Gozitan legal circles has been that a full-time judge would be posted in Gozo.

Yet, there has been concern among Gozitan lawyers at this prospect. Some say it would put them under pressure to refrain from deploying the entire legal arsenal at their disposal for fear of sowing antipathy with a judge in front of whom they would be stuck for many years.

The majority of court cases in Gozo are handled by fewer than 20 lawyers, each of whom would have dozens of cases in front of a full-time judge or magistrate at any one time. 

Similar concerns were expressed by PN MP Chris Said, who works as a litigation lawyer in Gozo’s court, during the parliamentary debate on Act No 1 of 2018.

Chief Justice Emeritus Degaetano said: “The entire population of Gozo is only about 8,000 more than the population of just Birkirkara. The problem [of having judges or magistrates assigned solely or mostly to Gozo] is one of familiarity and perceptions, both important variables when assessing the objective impartiality of a judge or a magistrate.”

He added that “an equally impelling reason why a member of the judiciary should not be assigned ‘solely or mostly’ to Gozo is to enable him/her to obtain as wide an experience as possible.”

Both magistrates under the current organisational system only hear cases in Gozo. Magistrate Coppini was appointed exclusively to Gozo while the other magistrate, Brigitte Sultana, has only handled cases on the smaller island since her judicial appointment last April.

‘Familiarity’ complex

Magistrate Coppini has served full-time in Gozo for around 25 years. He moved to Gozo upon marrying a Gozitan and stood for the PN on Gozo in the general election of 1992 before being appointed magistrate a couple of years later.

Chief Justice Emeritus Degaetano could have been describing Magistrate Coppini when he said, in highlighting the problem of familiarity and perceptions in a small community, that this would not have been an issue in the past when the judiciary’s social life was limited to attending functions of state and social organisations, or even nowadays “if one leads a semi-cloistered life”.

In the community, Magistrate Coppini developed a reputation for aloofness and reticence, seen by some as a commendable effort to safeguard the integrity of his judicial office.

But in court, according to a seasoned Gozitan lawyer, “he likes to give you a second chance”. Maltese lawyers representing clients in his civil court have described proceedings as “informal”.

One lawyer said the dynamics were different from Malta, that lawyers had a lot of leeway. Another talked of an atmosphere of “incestuousness” – a familiarity and insularity among the courtroom actors in the dynamic of proceedings.

Cases ‘dragged out’

This situation is believed by some lawyers to have contributed to cases being dragged out: figures gleaned from the courts’ website show that Magistrate Coppini has 423 active cases (which will now be inherited by his successor).

On the other hand, his colleague Magistrate Sultana (who recently took over from Joanne Vella Cuschieri, known for expeditiousness), has 209 active cases. The number of incoming cases is supposedly equal, as incoming cases are placed in each magistrate’s workload on a rotation basis.

Further analysis shows that about eight in 10 of Magistrate Coppini’s active cases have been in progress for more than the roughly 450 days that on average it takes cases to be resolved in Maltese first instance courts, as reported in the 2018 EU Justice Scoreboard.

In the case of Magistrate Sultana, about half of her cases have been active for more than 450 days. 

Times of Malta asked the Chief Justice questions about how the judiciary in Gozo would be organised after the retirement of Magistrate Coppini.

He replied last week that a decision shall be taken in due course.