Talks between the government and the union representing probation and parole officers are ongoing with no end in sight as directives continue to impact criminal proceedings, leaving many offenders unsupervised.

Sources said that, despite the talks, no developments have been registered and another meeting is scheduled for this week.

Probation and parole officers have been following directives issued by the UĦM Voice of the Workers in January. The directives were issued in protest over their “excessive caseloads”.

There are a good number of criminal cases where the court is still waiting for a pre-sentencing report before judgment is delivered and there is also a good number of people convicted for a crime and sentenced to probation who are still yet to start being followed by the assigned probation officer.

Probation and parole officers are court officials appointed to supervise offenders with a probation period or inmates who are provisionally released on parole.

Probation officers are also tasked with drafting reports for those requesting parole. They enforce the conditions of court orders, conduct offender risk assessments and advise the courts, and also manage and enforce community orders for the offenders during and after their sentence.

The matter came to the fore again last week during a court case involving a 39-year-old man from Swieqi on charges of intimidation and harassment directed at his partner and daughter.

It would be good if the State were to awake from its slumber- Franco Debono

Defence lawyers Franco Debono, Marion Camilleri and Adreana Zammit said their client was ready to admit to the charges if placed on probation so he could receive help to address his obsession over his partner who broke up the relationship without warning.

Magistrate Nadia Vella promptly pointed out that probation officers were currently on strike, prompting the lawyer to say that the directives were impacting the administration of justice.

“The State must provide these services as it is a service contemplated by law,” Debono objected.

“It would be good if the State were to awake from its slumber, after three months, and start to address this issue,” he added.

The man was sentenced to probation for three years, along with a treatment order and a restraining order.

When asked about the situation that was leading to delays in court, a spokesperson for the home affairs ministry and UĦM director Mario Sacco both told Times of Malta that discussions were ongoing.

“The ministry and the People and Standards Division held several meetings with the UĦM. During the sessions, several proposals were submitted. More talks between the two sides will be held in the coming days. The government is doing its utmost to see that an agreement is reached,” the ministry spokesperson said.

Sacco added: “We have a meeting scheduled. No developments yet.”

In one of the last meetings, the union proposed a scheme for officers who want to take up more than 55 cases to do so on a pro-rata basis but no agreement on this has been reached.

Their current collective agreement states that each officer should be assigned a maximum of 55 cases but there is nothing about what happens when an officer takes on more cases.

Officers were instructed to not engage in any form of communication with clients or take on new clients.