White Paper proposes changes to secure speedier justice

A White Paper launched yesterday aims to achieve what its title suggests -a better and more expeditious administration of justice.

Justice Minister Tonio Borg said the government is proposing a series of measures that are quite radical. The changes being proposed, he added, will not necessary be enacted in Parliament in their present form.

"Some may be amended while others may be withdrawn... the changes may present conflicting interests depending on what side of the fence one may be sitting but the bottom line is going to be that anyone who had recourse to a court of law, even if one loses a case, would feel one got a fair hearing," the minister said.

Dr Borg said that although since 1998, when the last amendments were made, an improvement was registered in the amount of time it takes the court to decide cases, there were still some that remained pending for between five and 10 years. And about 70 per cent of the cases in the First Hall of the Civil Court have been pending for over three years.

Parliamentary Secretary Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici said that a substantial number of civil cases dealt with inheritance of property and how it is divided among the heirs. He even had a personal experience to recount. A case dealing with property was originally filed in 1944 and had been handled by his grandfather, then by his father - President Emeritus Ugo Mifsud Bonnici - and eventually by himself until a couple of years ago. It was decided last year!

The ridiculously long time - an eternity, he called it - that this case and similar cases took to be decided had led the government to suggest a special court dealing solely with property cases.

Another change that is being suggested is that in such cases as drug trafficking and in others where the accused is found guilty of having caused damage to the community, convicted persons would have to pay the expenses connected with the case.

The White Paper notes that in 2003 the government spent Lm3.7 million on the administration of justice and netted Lm1.5 million from the Small Claims Tribunal, the Magistrates' Court and the superior courts. From criminal cases, the government recovered Lm620,000.

The White Paper includes a comprehensive list of changes among them a common procedure for all civil suits, a filtering system to weed out frivolous appeals and a change in the competence of the inferior courts.

The White Paper proposes changes in the Press Act to remove the possibility of media people found guilty in libel cases from being sent to jail.

Dr Borg said a three-month public consultation period starts running as of today.