Reform of Gozo courts

On March 26, Franco Debono, chairman of Parliament’s Committee on Recodification and Consolidation of Laws, laid on the table of the House a report on the judicial process in Gozo. The report was accompanied by a draft Bill to amend the Code of Organisation and Civil Procedure, both in the Maltese and English languages.

Hopefully, Parliament will... act swiftly to reform the courts in Gozo to present day needs- Kevin Aquilina

This draft Bill was the result of internal discussion among the Committee members and a consultation process involving all Gozitan MPs, the minister responsible for justice, Chris Said, the Attorney General, Peter Grech, Maltese and Gozitan lawyers who practise in Gozo (Grazio Mercieca, Carmelo Galea and Vincent Galea), and myself.

The next step is for the publication of the Bill after it is given a first reading, once the House resumes its business following the Easter recess.

Dr Debono’s report to the House of Representatives is a follow-up to motion 222 on the judicial process in Gozo presented on December 12, 2011 by Labour MP Justyne Caruana and seconded by Gozo Minister Giovanna Debono.

The motion requested the Committee to draw up the necessary draft Bill following a plenary discussion in the House where Dr Caurana, Mrs Debono, Labour MPs Josè Herrera and Anton Refalo, the leader of the House and Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici and Nationalist MP Frederick Azzopardi all contributed to the parliamentary debate.

The objects and reasons of the Bill state that the Court of Magistrates (Gozo) sitting in its superior jurisdiction is being abolished and the jurisdiction of the Civil Court, First Hall, the Civil Court (Family Section) and the Civil Court (Voluntary Jurisdiction Section) is being extended to the islands of Gozo and Comino.

The Court of Appeal sitting in its superior jurisdiction is being empowered to hold sittings in Gozo to hear appeals lodged from decisions of the Civil Court, First Hall and the Civil Court (Family Section) when both the latter two sections of the Civil Court hold their sittings in Gozo.

The Court of Magistrates is established as one court with general jurisdiction over all islands in Malta and continuing to hold sittings both in Malta and in Gozo. Finally, the Bill facilitates the transfer of cases between courts and tribunals, whether on the same island or otherwise, and the transfer of judicial acts, written pleadings and other documents between the courts and tribunals in Malta to the courts and tribunals in Gozo and vice-versa.

Various principles have inspired the Select Committee, which is composed also of Nationalist MP Francis Zammit Dimech and Dr Herrera, when drawing up the draft Bill. These comprise that the Court of Magistrates (Gozo) will no longer be divided into two competencies: a superior and an inferior one. It will no longer be divided into two courts, one for the island of Malta and another for the islands of Gozo and Comino. Instead there will be one court, the Court of Magistrates, holding its sittings in Malta and in Gozo.

The superior competence of the Court of Magistrates (Gozo) is being done away with and, like in Malta, the Court of Magistrates will be sitting as an inferior court in Gozo.

The jurisdiction of the Civil Court, First Hall, the Civil Court (Family Section) and the Civil Court (Voluntary Jurisdiction Section) is being extended to Gozo so that these courts will start hearing cases in Gozo as well.

The Civil Court, First Hall’s jurisdiction, is also being extended to comprise human rights cases under the Constitution of Malta and the European Convention Act.

In addition, the Court of Appeal, superior competence (composed of three judges), will hear appeals from decisions of the Civil Court, First Hall, and the Civil Court (Family Jurisdiction) when these two courts hear cases in Gozo.

On the other hand, the Criminal Court will not see its jurisdiction extended to Gozo due to logistic reasons (the Criminal Court is the court that conducts trials by jury).

The Constitutional Court will continue to hear cases only in Malta.

Advocates and legal procurators may file judicial acts in the registry of the Civil Court, First Hall, in Malta so that those acts are transferred by the registrar in Malta to the registrar in Gozo and vice-versa.

The Code of Organisation and Civil Procedure entered into force in 1855 and has since been amended several times. The last comprehensive review of that code took place in 1995 by Act No. XXIV. However, notwithstanding all the amendments to this code, it is only the draft Bill approved by the Select Committee for the Reconsideration and Consolidation of Laws that had addressed the much-needed yet much-delayed reform of the courts’ organisation in Gozo.

Hopefully, Parliament will now act swiftly to reform the courts in Gozo to present day needs. We owe this to Gozo if we want to see it continuing to develop as an autonomous region in the Maltese islands.

Prof. Aquilina is Dean, Faculty of Laws, University of Malta.