Updated 12.15pm, adds PN statement

Lawyers did not turn up for work at the Gozo law courts on Wednesday, forcing presiding magistrates to postpone all sittings.

The lawyers are demanding improvement in the environment and facilities of the courthouse, a cramped old building in the Citadel of Victoria.

Magistrates Joe Mifsud and Simone Grech postponed all their sittings after the lawyers complained they did not have the basic tools to work with.

On Monday, a group of 20 lawyers had appeared before Grech to inform the court that until the situation improved, they would not be appearing in court for their cases.

Sources said the magistrate is well aware of the dire situation since she had to pause her sittings last week to go to the registry in person and fetch the file for her next case.

They said problems worsened in recent weeks when a number of employees requested a transfer, saying they could no longer work in that environment.

In a joint statement, the lawyers complained that court summons were not being distributed, they were not being informed of case developments, including applications and replies as well as deferral of cases, and transcripts were not being done in time before sittings, stalling their work.

Case files and documents were being lost in the IT system. Nothing was being scanned and decrees were not being communicated immediately, leaving them and their clients in the dark over proceedings.

Problems worsened when some employees requested a transfer

Another problem was that deputy registrars could not carry out their work as there was a staff shortage in the court registry. Applications for urgent cases, such as injunctions, were taking too long to reach the magistrates for a preliminary decision.

And the court Wi-Fi was not accessible within the court building, with many lawyers getting a better service around the Citadel.

The lawyers also cited two recent reports which exposed serious health and safety issues and severe lack of accessibility.

Reports last month said that the Occupational Health and Safety Authority (OHSA) had warned the Gozo courthouse of fines for failing to meet minimum health and safety standards.

The Commission for the Rights of Persons with Disability had issued a rebuke because the courtrooms were not only vertically inaccessible, with stairs being the only way up from the ground floor, but also failed the horizontal test because the different floors have several levels.

A spokesperson for the Justice Ministry said when contacted Wednesday that efforts were being made to address the shortcomings and ensure that the law courts in Gozo were “fully operational and efficient”.

She said the newly-appointed CEO of the Courts Services Agency, Euenice Fiorini Grech, had inspected the courts to assess the situation and plan the necessary steps.

“Among other initiatives, the agency is recruiting staff in different positions, including clerks for deputy registrars, to address some of the shortcomings. If everything goes according to plan, this process will be concluded in the coming weeks,” the spokesperson said.

“As a temporary measure, staff from the Maltese law courts are helping to fill in the gaps.”

The administration had taken note of the recommendations made in the OHSA report and was addressing them, taking into account the historical value and limitations of the building.

Fiorini Grech had appointed a health and safety consultant who is drawing up a risk assessment to address issues raised, she added.

PN statement

In a statement, the Nationalist Party expressed concern about the situation and solidarity with lawyers, employees and the public who needed to go to court.

Gozitan MPs Chris Said, Joseph Ellis and Kevin Cutajar said the situation at the Gozo courts had become unsustainable and the government had not yet identified a new site for the institution, in spite of promises.

The government, they said, had allowed the situation to deteriorate showing that it was cut off from reality.