What happened in a Gozitan courtroom on Wednesday may have shocked many. However, for those who regularly frequent the courts, both in Malta and in Gozo, this was an incident waiting to happen.
Because this is considered to be a peaceful and safe country, security in public places is often taken for granted.
There are installations, such as military barracks, ports, banks and prisons, where security is a must for very obvious reasons. Then there are public places that also require a certain degree of security. These include hospitals and sensitive government departments where big numbers of people usually assemble and where tempers can easily flare leading to nasty and, at times, ugly incidents.
The law court is, of course, another such place. Here, however, the situation is very different to, say, a hospital or a government office where sensitive and controversial decisions are made. The courts are constantly dealing with litigation, with one party challenging another. Here, temperatures are always running high and, very often, these do not erupt only thanks to the ability of the presiding judge or magistrate and the input of the lawyers on both sides.
That is precisely what Magistrate Josette Demicoli tried to do on Wednesday when, noticing that one of the parties in a case she was hearing was getting too agitated, she ordered him out of the courtroom. An incident ensued in which one man sustained serious stab wounds and a lawyer required sutures to his elbow. A Gozitan man was yesterday arraigned in connection with the incident and, thus, the merits of the case are now sub judice.
However, that does not mean that security in the law courts or, rather, the lack of it cannot be discussed and brought to the fore. On the contrary, this incident should serve not only as an eye-opener but push for the necessary action to be taken without any undue delay and with no ifs and buts.
Soon after the incident occurred, 12 lawyers who serve in the Gozo court, including the one who was stabbed in the arm, called for an adequate security system to be put in place in Gozo, including a metal detector, scanning and the provision of security personnel. It seems there only used to be one police officer responsible for security at the Gozo courts.
The lawyers declared they were willing to take “opportune action” to ensure that the courts in Gozo are secure, including a provisional suspension of their operations in court.
One hopes that there would be no need for the lawyers to have to boycott court sittings, even if temporarily, and that all necessary security measures are implemented by the powers-that-be. Any extremes should be avoided, even when deciding on security arrangements. Yet, the safety of the public, the judiciary, the legal profession and court staff must be given priority and what happened on Wednesday indicates it was not.
A metal detector does exist at the Valletta court building and body searches are done. However, the situation there is certainly far from what it should be.
Electronic equipment that does not appear to be too intrusive can be used to boost security. Additional personnel could contribute too, though the automatic answer need not necessarily be more police presence. The police are already understaffed and overworked.
It would not be amiss if either the Justice Minister or the Home Affairs Minister (the Prime Minister) would explain, ideally in Parliament, what they have in mind in this regard.