Gozo Minister seconds PL motion

An opposition motion calling for the updating of the judicial process in Gozo and to elevate the Gozo courts to a fully-fledged superior court found the support of Gozo Minister Giovanna Debono who seconded the Private Member’s Bill.

The way government persistently mistreats the Gozo courts is proof that it has no real will to make Gozo a distinct region

The motion also has the support of a number of lawyers serving in Gozo, who presented a petition to Labour MP Justyne Caruana.

Introducing the motion, Dr Caruana said the Gozo court was to have the same status as Malta with an established superior court and not just jurisdiction. At present it was a magistrates’ court with powers to hear cases belonging to the superior courts. In the words of a senior judge it was serving as an incubator for magistrates.

Dr Caruana said that Gozitans had to renounce to their right to go to the constitutional court or to appeal on other cases because this entailed having to travel to Malta for every hearing. There were only 242 appeals out of 950 civil cases decided over the last five years.

She said that if one believed in Gozo as a region, one had to consider setting up a regional superior court for Gozo presided by a judge. This could be done by changing the code of civil procedure or by changing the constitution.

The magistrates serving in Gozo had to deal with cases pertaining to the superior courts and at the same time handle criminal, civil and family cases, carry out inquiries and cases under the rent board. This meant that while judges in Malta had 182 cases each assigned to them in 2010, the two magistrates in Gozo had to handle 207 cases between them while also doing the other work. Work in the family courts had risen considerably.

Dr Caruana said it was time to use modern technology also in Gozo so that witnesses would not have to travel to Malta. Judicial documents could be transferred to Gozo and vice-versa. Sessions under the industrial tribunal should also be held in Gozo.

The Labour MP complained of the lack of facilities and lack of security in the Gozo courts. She said it was high time for the Gozo court to be relocated elsewhere.

Anton Refalo (PL) said the way the government had persistently mistreated the Gozo courts was proof that it had no real will to make Gozo a distinct region.

Dr Refalo said he could not believe that there would ever be a full-time judge in Gozo, and even less a new court building. The government’s Gozitan MPs were agreeing with Dr Caruana’s motion only in order to avoid making the same mistake as when they had voted against a seat for Gozo on the MCESD. The only government that had proved its belief in Gozo as a region had been the Labour administration of 1996-98, when the Chief Justice had been asked to hear inferior appeals in Gozo. The Nationalist administration had not even procured a generator for the court.

There was no tangible ongoing process to make things better in Gozo, as under Gozo Minister Anton Tabone. The government saw Gozo as a millstone which recovered its importance only on the eve of elections. It sought to justify the non-appointment of a judge for Gozo on the small number of appeals. The Gozo court was seen only as a source of revenue.

Dr Refalo said one of the major faults at the Gozo court was the frequent hand-overs of cases from magistrates elevated to the bench in Malta to incoming magistrates who delivered judgment on the strength of the initial magistrate’s annotations.

Legislation should be amended in the sense that if litigating parties in Gozo agreed, appeals should be heard by one judge in Gozo rather than having to go before three judges in Malta.

Winding up the debate, Dr José Herrera said that Gozo had its own regional court. This was different from municipal courts which he opposed claiming that they devalued the administration of Justice.He called for the Courts in Valletta to hold afternoon sessions for cases heard by the Commissioner of Justice. The Consumer Tribunal should also be seated in the court.

The time was ripe for Gozo to have its own judge. This did not mean that magistrates serving in Gozo had been criticised. The magistrates supported the proposals. He believed in seniority in the courts if magistrates served well. The government had done away with this system creating tension.

The most junior magistrate was now presiding in cases in Gozo as a judge. Their powers were different from the judges in Malta because they could not decide constitutional cases. Their jurisdiction was limited. It was inconvenient for Gozitans to have to present lawsuits in Malta. The issue was now being addressed for appeals to the lower court. A judge in Gozo would hear civil cases. The High Criminal Court would remain in Malta for the time being. The motion would update the system of justice in Gozo and would give Gozitans a regional identity.