Updated 10.55am, adds minister's reaction

More than eight new members of the judiciary are needed to deal with the workload at the courts, Judiciary Malta, an association for judges and magistrates, said on Friday.

Welcoming the news that at least four new judges and four new magistrates are to be appointed in the coming weeks, it called for the number to be upped and for the investment to also include trained personnel and adequate tools for the situation in court to improve in a visible manner.

It said that EU statistics made it clear that Malta currently only had half the required members of the judiciary needed for every 100,000 people when compared with other EU countries.

This was in spite of the fact that court work was increasing in “quality and quantity”.

It observed that contrary to what was recently alleged in some sections of the media, most members of the judiciary worked daily and whenever was necessary, even holding sittings during the weekend. Halls were used every day and whenever they were needed.

The association noted that a substantial amount of the judiciary’s work was not carried out in halls but in the members’ offices and at their homes, where they spent long hours studying cases and writing out judgements. As this work was unseen, it was not “considered and appreciated”, it said.

The association called for sufficient personnel to provide for the “serious shortcomings” in court, particularly at the registry, and to aid current members of the judiciary and new ones to be appointed.

It said antiquated administration systems were a source of delays, as were methodologies and procedures imposed by the legislator in several legal sectors. It cited the drugs law as a case in point.

“Radical legislative changes” to these procedures are needed for the judiciary to work effectively, the association said as it urged the government to address these “legal deficiencies”.

While acknowledging the legal efforts being made to modernise operations, including through investment in technology, it encouraged the authorities to invest and plan long term for the court to be in a position to operate efficiently and effectively for the benefit of the people.

It insisted that the people had a right to “justice within a reasonable time” so it was the government’s duty to seriously invest in the needs of the court.

It said it was useless to increase the number of judges and magistrates if they were not given the personnel and tools they needed to operate efficiently.

The association said it has passed it concerns to the Justice Minister who assured it that he will continue working to improve the operations in the court and supply the judiciary with the necessary tools and personnel.

Justice Minister reacts

Justice Minister Edward Zammit Lewis reacted positively to the association's statement, telling Times of Malta later, he acknowledged that the judiciary needed beefing up to cope with the present workload, but dismissed claims the government had not been addressing the problems. 

“The issues have been ongoing for years but I disagree that there have not been improvements. We have updated the procedures, we will add eight members and we will continue to make even more reforms and investment,” the minister said. 

A public call for the new members will issued on Friday, he said. 

On delays in court cases that have been resulting in people getting sentenced years after being charged with a crime, Zammit Lewis said this problem will not be “shoved under the carpet”. 

“We want to address the problem because I agree with you, there are injustices. It is the citizens who suffer,” he said.