The Nationalist opposition has requested an urgent meeting of the Gozo House committee to discuss the situation at the courts in Gozo.

The Gozo courts have been at a complete standstill due to strike action by lawyers.

In spite of a meeting between lawyers and the Court Services Agency on Tuesday, during which several promises were made, lawyers decided to continue with their action, arguing that very little progress had been made since they had taken collective action in June.

The PN said on Thursday that although it had been more than a week since all practising lawyers in Gozo started their action, the government had not yet addressed the situation.

Issues at the Gozo courts include the absence of an assistant registrar and of a full-time court marshall, an inaccessible building, staff shortages in several branches of the courts, documents being lost or going unscanned and others not being served on time to the parties or judges.

The situation, the PN said, was leading to great injustices with all those who needed the services of the court in Gozo and reflected the government’s lack of respect for all court workers, legal professionals and the judiciary.