Magistrates presiding over complex criminal cases face the prospect of having to sign mountains of documentary evidence by hand but this could soon change as part of an overhaul of the justice system.
Government sources said that, as part of a long-proposed reform of Malta’s justice system, the maligned requirement of magistrates having to stamp and sign every single piece of evidence submitted in court may be done away with.
“We are looking at systems used in other countries, such as the UK, to address this. What is certain is that, as we push to have more complex white collar crimes prosecuted in court, we have to facilitate this with a modern system in the courts that is realistic and not based on a system from 100 years ago,” a source privy to the reform said.
In the current court rules, every documentary piece of evidence submitted must be numbered, signed and stamped.
Recently, Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech was presented with a staggering 12 terabytes of data in a massive money-laundering case against former Malta international footballer turned alleged fuel smuggler Darren Debono.
The 12,000 gigabytes of data, roughly six times the size of the Panama Papers data dump, comes from servers and a number of electronic devices that were lifted by the police following months of intense investigations into the suspected fuel smuggling ring.
It is understood that one possibility being considered is that, rather than magistrates having to sign individual pages of evidence, they would instead be able to rely on reports drawn up by qualified experts on the files presented in court.
The government source said the reform was also looking to streamline the process of magisterial inquiries, saying, here too, the judiciary were still expected to sign every piece of evidence collected.
Leading criminal defence lawyer Franco Debono agrees that it is time for a change to the system.
Debono, who at a time had been tasked with drafting a proposed reform of the courts and legal system, said the current process was far too cumbersome on magistrates who already have to deal with a massive workload.
He said it was healthy that the government was looking to do away with requirements which no longer made sense in contemporary court cases.
Opposition MP and lawyer Jason Azzopardi had also raised the matter in parliament back in January, asking Justice Minister Edward Zammit Lewis whether he would consider exempting magistrates from having to sign thousands of pages of court documents.
At the time Zammit Lewis had said it was being looked into but said it was a delicate matter that needed proper consideration.
Last month, Times of Malta reported how a proposed rewrite of the judicial process is at an advanced stage and will be presented to cabinet in summer.
One idea being considered is for lawmakers to shorten what is known as the compilation of evidence stage in criminal proceedings and fast track the course of justice.