Chief Justice Mark Chetcuti has reassigned all of Magistrate Monica Vella’s criminal and civil case in the Gozo court, with sources saying this was down to slow throughput of work.
The decision was communicated last Thursday when lawyers with pending cases before Magistrate Vella were informed about the change. All civil and criminal cases were reassigned to Magistrate Brigette Sultana except those cases which Magistrate Vella had deferred for judgment.
Magistrate Vella has now been assigned to work at the law courts in Valletta.
Sources said Magistrate Vella had been assigned the bulk of cases that were pending when Magistrate Paul Coppini retired in October 2019. Some of his other cases were assigned to Magistrate Simone Grech.
Several lawyers who spoke to Times of Malta on condition of anonymity said they were not surprised by the Chief Justice's decision, though such a move is rare.
Some said they have been waiting for a decree for several months while others said there were lots of complaints about her work pace in lawyer circles.
It is understood that the complaints reached the Chief Justice who had to act to address court delays at the Gozo courts.
When asked about the matter, Justice Minister Edward Zammit Lewis said the assignment and re-assignment of cases in the superior and inferior courts are the exclusive prerogative of the Chief Justice.
Magistrate Vella was appointed to the Bench in May 2015 after having been Labour’s mayor of Xewkija for 11 years and later Commissioner for Justice in a local tribunal. She began practising law in 1998 and had served as a judicial assistant in the superior courts between 2009 and her appointment.
News about the reassignment of cases only emerged when the case against the two priests charged with sexual abuse continued in the Gozo Courts on Monday.
While cases before the civil and family courts will continue unhindered, parties involved cases before the criminal court will have to give their green light for the case to continue being heard by the new magistrate or whether the entire case will have to be heard afresh.