Lawyers at the law courts in Gozo will strike by not attending court sittings as of Thursday in protest over a litany of shortcomings which, they said, the government had failed to tackle despite being repeatedly urged to do so.

In a statement on Wednesday, the lawyers said their action will continue until they are given a satisfactory explanation of how the issues will be addressed.  

The lawyers said that despite their protestations over a number of months, the courts are still without an assistant registrar and no full-time court marshal is based in Gozo. 

Staff shortcomings are being felt in several branches of the courts, documents are being lost and others are not been served on time to the parties, or to the judges. Many documents are not being scanned. 

Furthermore, shortcomings in the law courts building itself, identified by the Occupational Health and Safety Authority and the Commission for People with Disabilities, had been ignored, they said.   

Lawyers in Gozo also did not turn up for work on June 3, forcing presiding magistrates to postpone all sittings.

The lawyers had demanded improvement in the environment and facilities of the courthouse, a cramped old building in the Citadel of Victoria.

A spokesperson for the Justice Ministry had said when contacted at the time by Times of Malta that efforts were being made to address the shortcomings and ensure that the law courts in Gozo were “fully operational and efficient”.