The police are expected to drop criminal charges filed against two senior government officials over health and safety breaches at the Gozo courthouse.
This follows the justice ministry paying a fine of €1,500 and doing a programme of works to bring the courthouse in line with minimum standards by the end of this month.
The fine was issued by the police after the Occupational Health and Safety Authority found multiple shortcomings during an audit of the courthouse last year.
A spokesperson for the justice ministry confirmed that the €1,500 fine issued by the OHSA had been paid in full.
Sources said that, in view of these developments, the police would withdraw the charges when the two officials appear in court on Monday.
Times of Malta reported earlier this month that criminal charges had been issued against Gozo Courts director general Mary Debono Borg, 59, of Fontana, and Court Services Agency chief executive Eunice Maria Grech Fiorini, 42, of Tarxien over their failure to ensure minimum health and safety standards at the Victoria courts.
Borg is the mother of Nationalist MP Alex Borg.
The two are due to be charged in their personal capacity but the case may now well be a non-starter.
Still, legal sources said the magistrate may want to ensure that all OHSA recommendations have been addressed before accepting the withdrawal of charges, so the authority may be asked to carry out another audit to ensure minimum standards have been adhered to.
The charges relate to crimes allegedly committed in May 2021. The OHSA had carried out an audit and given management time to bring the building in line with regulations.
Among the shortcomings found by the authority, management omitted to carry out a proper health and safety assessment of the courthouse as a workplace of hundreds of employees and neither did it appoint someone to monitor the health and safety of workers.
Management also failed to implement a proper fire and evacuation plan as specified at law.
Furthermore, there was no proper signage at the courthouse, the charges say.