Comments by Justice Minister Chris Said that judges should fine people who did not appear before them without valid reason, causing court delays, drew a sharp reaction today during a meeting of the parliamentary committee on the consolidation of laws.

Dr Said’s comments had been made in reaction to comments by Magistrate Carol Peralta. (See comments at http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20120526/local/-Punish-all-our-court-no-shows-.421332?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter )

Opposition justice spokesman Jose' Herrera said the minister's comment was simplistic, even puerile.

What was needed, he said, was a major, wide-ranging reform of the whole system because magistrates and lawyers were inundated with work and there was excessive bureaucracy. He suggested that the concept of plea bargaining could be expanded as a way to reduce the time court cases took to be decided.

Committee chairman Franco Debono said he had no doubt that Dr Said was well intentioned. However the lawyers and prosecutors were already the victims of the system, having to appear for several cases at the same time because all cases were given the same time.

The problem, he stressed, was one of logistics and an updating of the procedural system was needed

The Magistrates, as well as the lawyers and the prosecutors, worked within a system. Magistrate Peralta had reacted when he faced a huge number of cases on returning to the bench after serving abroad. Most of the cases were inherited from Magistrate Grima when she became a judge. Perhaps magistrates who were about to be promoted or were to retire should clear their backload first. In such cases, the new magistrates either had to decide cases without hearing the evidence themselves, or hear evidence all over again.

Dr Michael Schriha said the minister was usually more balanced and careful in the way he commented, but one understood that a politician had to defend his position.

The point at issue was not the  lawyers, magistrates, prosecutors or staff. The problem was that Malta had a system that had to be updated. There was a need for specialised courts and specialised magistrates since that made things  easier, more precise, faster and more uniform. 

There was a need to revise the distribution of work of magistrates.

While one appreciated that the administration was appointing more magistrates, more were needed but they needed to be backed up with the necessary structures. Procedures needed to be streamlined and overlapping needed to end. For example, what sense did it make that an accused person could not file an admission before a first hearing. In some cases, evidence still had to be collected.

The registrar of the criminal court, Joseph Sacco pointed to everyday logistical problems. It was good to raise the number of magistrates, he said, but four magistrates already did not have halls, and another magistrate was about to be appointed.

It was even a problem to find enough messengers. Three calls for application had been made but not enough people had applied because they did not work up to 1.30 p.m. One magistrate had a handyman working for him - carrying the files.

"We are going down" Mr Sacco said with regard to the logistical problems and people's concerns.

He pointed out, however, that some Magistrates, because of their efficiency, did not have the problems of other magistrates. He mentioned, in particular, Magistrates Doreen Clarke and Consuelo Scerri-Herrera as not having backlog problems.

He also pointed out that Dr Padovani concluded many inquiries and cases before being made judge, but could not complete everything before her elevation.

Dr Francis Zammit Dimech (PN) said the core issue was time management, which some people tried to apply more than others. He said the minister's comments did not mean that everybody should be fined, since there was context in everything. The minister had also not ruled out reforms.  The committee, he said, should itself identify the problems in the system emerging from the laws and propose solutions for them.  

During the sitting the committee members also stressed the need for a revision of the scale of punishment because of confusion that had been created.