The Chief Justice yesterday joined the President of the Chamber of Advocates in calling for better salaries and working conditions for the judiciary, the first time he has spoken out about the matter.

Chief Justice Silvio Camilleri’s speech, in a ceremony at the Law Courts marking the opening of the Forensic Year, followed that of Chamber president Reuben Balzan who was however highly critical of some aspects of the operations of the judiciary, earning him sparse applause from its members present.

Thirteen of the 19 magistrates attended while all the judges were at the ceremony. Members of the judiciary have recently stayed away from two occasions of state where they would normally be present – September 8 and Independence Day – in what was widely interpreted to be an informal boycott over their salaries and conditions. They were represented on those occasions by the lone figure of the Chief Justice.

Yesterday, Dr Camilleri made a case for such an important pillar of the country to be held in higher regard by the government: “I regret to say that it appears that the Executive does not give the administration of justice the value it deserves, independently of other considerations. It appears that the Executive gives priority to activities which it feels will generate revenue for the state or turn the wheels of the economy,” he said.

A reconsideration of salaries of judges and magistrates was long overdue and not because officials from other departments were paid more but in justification for the work done, he argued.

Dr Balzan said he had decided to focus his speech on the working conditions of the judiciary despite there being other issues he wanted to deal with such as divorce and how the Civil Court should be given priority over the Ecclesiastical Tribunal.

He said the salaries of judges and magistrates were too low and, referring to reports that the judiciary might boycott this ceremony too, observed it was a sign that the issue had reached the point where extreme measures had to be implemented.

Pay was only part of the picture, however. The public, he said, needed to have greater faith in the judiciary and to believe that the person deciding the case was someone of integrity — but that was not always the case.

Judgments were being handed down very late and people sometimes had to wait years for their case to be decided. He announced that the chamber would therefore offer its services to people in this predicament, so that they could file an application to have the case withdrawn from the adjudicator dragging his or her feet and have it assigned to another.

Another “big” problem was case management, where adjudicators each had their own system, leading to chaos when lawyers had two or more cases on the same day.

Dr Balzan called for a common diary system to alleviate this situation and ease other problems such as the public being left to wait for hours in the court corridors only to be told they could leave because their case had been deferred.

The judiciary also had to be accountable, he said. It was ridiculous that the Commission for the Administration of Justice was powerless to take action and the only way a magistrate or judge could be removed was by a two thirds majority in Parliament.

In his own speech later, Chief Justice Camilleri said case management was one of the issues he had mentioned in his speech last year and he made an appeal to all those involved to make sure that the time wasted was cut drastically. He had found unreserved cooperation from his colleagues in tackling this problem.

Tackling another issue, Dr Camilleri said the time was ripe for an evaluation of the process of mediation. Malta had two systems, mandatory and voluntary, and one needed to establish which was the most effective.

He noted that sometimes, mediators were available for only short sessions in the morning, often of not more than 30 minutes. This lengthened proceedings because very little could be done in half an hour. Furthermore, appointments were often not agreed between the parties and their lawyers and this led to disagreement, even animosity, when the purpose of mediation was the opposite.

At the Family Court, where mediation was mandatory, he was disappointed to find that the process took place in tiny rooms with poor ventilation.

The Chief Justice also complained about the paucity of investment and the need for more resources. The €500 allotted to the library, for example, was not even enough to purchase the proper judicial volumes let alone access judicial websites.

When he became Chief Justice, there were 25 vacant positions for court ushers, six for deputy registrars and 18 for clerical staff, and this was before two judges and three magistrates were appointed, putting the system under immense pressure.

These positions were vacant because of various circumstances including transfers, promotions, resignations and other circumstances and after some hard work this situation seemed to be changing. In conclusion, Dr Camilleri appealed to the Chamber of Advocates to exercise caution and prudence when it came to offering the public the chance to file an application to have cases moved from one adjudicator to another as it could be counterproductive and lead to an even longer wait.

The government was not represented at the ceremony, which was attended by President George Abela. While Justice Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici is indisposed, the Chief Justice expressed regret that the Parliamentary Assistant at the Ministry of Justice could not attend because of another official commitment.

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