Court registry

I refer to the report Sliema Man Charged With Rape (September 3).

Readers may have been misled in assuming that the young man who was granted bail could not deposit Lm800 in the Registry of the Courts of Magistrates (Malta) because the registry was not open either on Friday afternoon or on a Saturday.

For the benefit of all concerned, the court's registries receive acts and "monies" from 8 a.m. to noon in the summer period and this according to law. Legal Notice 139 of 2004, paragraph 9(1) specifically stipulates that the opening hours of the court registries are from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. between October 1 and June 15 of each year and 8 a.m. and noon between June 30 and September 30 of each year.

However, the court registry could have been opened had an urgent application been filed after closing hours before the competent court regarding the opening of the registry and the necessary authorisation for the deposit of the bail. This procedure was not followed.