TMID Editorial: Making things better at the law courts

A fresh call for applications will be issued for the appointment of another batch of judges and magistrates.The aim of this, Justice Minister Jonathan Attard said in Parliament, is to lead to greater specialisation in the law courts, resulting in mor

By: independent.com.mt

Oct 10 2024
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TMID Editorial: Making things

A fresh call for applications will be issued for the appointment of another batch of judges and magistrates.

The aim of this, Justice Minister Jonathan Attard said in Parliament, is to lead to greater specialisation in the law courts, resulting in more effective justice and more efficient procedures.

Nice words from the minister. But we've heard them before, many times, and the promise of faster proceedings - without affecting the course of justice - is yet to materialise. Some cases continue to be long, way too long, and as has been said over and over again, justice delayed is justice denied.

At the recent opening of the forensic year, both the Chief Justice Mark Chetcuti and the President of the Chamber of Advocates Peter Fenech spoke about this.

In his remarks, for example, Chief Justice Chetcuti said that the volume of civil cases is too high for the number of judges currently presiding. He called for the addition of two more judges to be able to deal with the situation "so that there would be a real possibility that old cases are tackled in a shorter time frame and with less pressure and tension".

Fenech, for his part, had words of criticism for members of the judiciary and lawyers who did not carry out their duties properly, and this affected the smooth running of the law courts. In an interview he gave later to The Malta Independent on Sunday, Fenech said there should be more effective disciplinary measures taken against judges, magistrates and lawyers who do not do their duties in a correct manner.

The thing is, an increase in the number of judges and magistrates is only part of the solution. It is good that there is more specialisation - and, in this sense, it is positive to highlight the proposal to re-establish the Commercial Court as a standalone entity - but then the system has to work.

If the judiciary and lawyers operate in such a way as to stall the system and make it go slower, then it is pointless having 100 judges and magistrates. Why should one member of the judiciary be in a position to set the date for the next sitting of a given case in eight to 10 weeks, and another one puts off a case for six, nine or 12 months later? These are not our words. This is the question that was posed by the president of the Chamber of Advocates in the interview carried last Sunday.

It must also be ensured that all judges and magistrates have the support (in terms of human resources) they need to work efficiently.

There is, then, the question of space. The law courts building was huge for the time when it was built around 60 years ago, but it has grown too small now given that the number of cases has steadily increased. Over the years, more and more space was converted into halls where cases are heard, but there is a limit as to how many can be fitted in. It is clear that more space is required for the law courts to function better.

A deeper consideration should also be made for the system to move away from being paper-based. Apart from being more environment-friendly, a system which is more digitalised would go a long way to lessen inconvenience - the physical presentation of documents - and bring about less chance that items could be misplaced.