It is imperative that stakeholders in the justice system roll up their sleeves to ensure effective justice is done – rather than taking forever to be done.
Justice minister Edward Zammit Lewis admitted in an article in this newspaper in late January that “it is worrying to hear that there may be instances where justice is being delayed whenever cases are prolonged unnecessarily because, yes, it is true, justice delayed is justice denied”.
His point was clearly illustrated only a few days later when a young man was sentenced to jail and fined in connection with a drug case that goes back to when he was 18, more than seven long years ago.
One may justifiably debate the punishment, especially since the presiding magistrate herself noted that the young man had cooperated with the police, even giving them the identities of the people who sold him the pills. The court also pointed out that he had a clean criminal record. But that sentence may yet be revised by the appeals court.
What is of even greater concern is the inordinately long time it took for the case to be concluded. Leaving a person in suspended animation at such a crucial period of his life is not just at all. Yet, this case is not some rare exception to the way the justice system operates and neither is it a post-2013 problem.
The irony is that, from the opposition benches, the two big political parties take it in turns to lambast the government of the day over court delays, conveniently overlooking their own failures when in power. Admittedly, addressing and solving the issue is not a simple matter but, sadly, as the politicians persist in their rhetoric, lives continue to be ruined.
Deciding cases within a reasonable time is an essential element in the administration of justice. The long wait for closure can have a devastating effect on the accused and their family.
Vincent De Gaetano, former chief justice and former judge on the European Court of Human Rights, noted in a paper presented at a Warsaw university conference that the effectiveness of any legal system is at stake with every case, civil or criminal, still pending before a court.
“A lack of effectiveness brings about a lack of credibility in both the legal and the judicial systems; and such lack of credibility undermines the very notion of the rule of law,” he remarked.
There is no doubt that the justice system needs fixing. Both the government and the opposition agree on it. In fact, reacting to the case mentioned earlier, Nationalist MEP Roberta Metsola called on the government to make use of EU funding for this purpose.
“We are seeing unacceptable delays in dealing with cases of criminal, commercial and civil nature. The principle of justice delayed is justice denied remains true,” she rightly insisted.
Justice shadow minister Karol Aquilina could not have put it better when he observed that “too many processes are antiquated, too many lives have been caught up”.
Even on this long-standing shortcoming of our justice system, where there is will there must be a way. But while the spirit is declared to be willing, the flesh remains weak.
Dealing with the problem will take more than the goodwill of all members of parliament.
They need to put their heads together and agree to concretely do all that needs to be done to make justice more timely. If they manage that first step, then other stakeholders – whether the judiciary, lawyers or court officials – who remain uncooperative would stick out like a sore thumb.
Parliament needs to set the ball rolling.