A building has been identified to house Malta’s new Commercial Court, Justice Minister Jonathan Attard confirmed this week. 

During an appearance on the TVM programme Insights on Thursday, Attard revealed that a publicly owned building had been earmarked for the project following the announcement that the government plans to re-establish a separate Commercial Court. 

Attard said the building is located “a few corners away” from the existing court building on Republic Street and will host two chambers as well as its own registry. 

The minister was prompted to speak about the new courtroom while debating with Shadow Justice Minister Karol Aquilina, who said that lawyers are concerned that the new Commercial Court will not be connected to or directly adjacent to the existing Law Courts. 

Aquilina said that the government had failed to invest in adequate resources for the judicial system, citing new magistrates having no space to work from and not bettering working conditions for court employees. 

Attard brushed off proximity concerns and said that the government’s focus has been to address court delays by increasing the judiciary. 

The problem of space, he continued, has arisen because the government has actively been addressing this concern. But work has also been ongoing to remedy it as well. 

The government has recently added a second jury chamber and maximised space in the Law Courts to increase offices. A building behind the court has also been acquired to extend the Criminal Court and a tender has been issued for works to be contracted. 

The plan, he said, aligns with the Chief Justice’s vision to have more specialised courts to deal with the increased judicial workload.