Court delays can only be addressed following a reform of current working practices and laws of procedure to render the judicial process smoother and “more aligned to the 21st century”, according to the president of the Chamber of Advocates. 

“We are today operating in a system with procedural laws and working practices that were meant to allow a system to function ages ago – when the volume of the workload on our courts was significantly less,” said Louis de Gabriele. 

Malta needs to update those practices and then provide all the necessary resources to the courts and other institutions that are somehow connected to the justice framework, he said.

Last week, Prime Minister Robert Abela spoke about “unacceptable” court delays following the acquittal of two men accused of murdering 20-year-old Sion Grech 18 years ago. Abela suggested it was time for courts to hold hearings after 1pm to keep up with the demand.

Malta has among the longest court delays in Europe, with cases often taking several years to end. 

Last November, it emerged that femicide victim Bernice Cassar had filed domestic violence charges against her estranged husband, but the case against the man who has now been charged with her murder, had been put off for 18 months. This was due to the large caseload of domestic violence cases heard by one magistrate. 

Since then, the government issued a public call to appoint new judges and magistrates. Justice Minister Jonathan Attard pledged that slashing court delays was an absolute priority for the government.

"A police spokesperson said police officers attend law courts sitting whenever they are requested to do so. If afternoon sittings became regular it would mean more sittings would be appointed and “the workload of pending cases will be reduced”

One of the time-saving measures mentioned by the minister was doing away with a cumbersome referrals process during the compilation of evidence phase.

Known as rinviji, this is when evidence presented in court by the prosecution is referred to the office of the attorney general, who is given a one-month window to decide on the way forward. This can happen multiple times in the pretrial process.

Lawyers open to afternoon sittings idea

De Gabriele noted that court delays were the result of systemic issues that need to be addressed. 

“The issue of court delays is a complex one and will not be resolved by any one single measure – indeed the delays in different courts and in different types of proceedings are not all caused by one and the same trigger, and due consideration has to be made of all the different courts and types of proceedings,” he said.

De Gabriele called for a study working group composed of all stakeholders which would be tasked with reviewing and revising these matters.

As for holding court sittings after 1pm, as suggested by Abela, he said the chamber would be prepared to consider it in the context of a number of other considerations. This would include the impact it will have on lawyers who operate individual practices – and who would have to attend court sittings in the afternoon.

Julianne Grima, from Victim Support Malta, said that court backlog is an international problem and not just an issue in Malta.

“Extending court hours is one approach but this must be twinned with an integral approach towards supporting the judiciary through an investment in resources and a sustainable method that won’t fold under the pressure of just over-taxing the few judges and magistrates we have locally,” she said.

A police spokesperson said police officers attend law courts sitting whenever they are requested to do so. If afternoon sittings became regular it would mean more sittings would be appointed and “the workload of pending cases will be reduced”.