Social workers would sit beside members of the judiciary to advise them on drug-related cases if changes to drug laws are adopted, Justice Minister Owen Bonnici told Times of Malta.
He was reacting to comments by Madam Justice Edwina Grima who said magistrates presiding over drug cases did not have the tools to help them when making a decision.
“Madam Justice Grima spoke out loud and clear: ‘We need the tools to better assess drug cases’. This is the crux of the entire reform,” Dr Bonnici said.
The judge, who had presided over drug cases when she served as a magistrate, was speaking during a public consultation on the upcoming drug reform on Monday.
Read more in Times of Malta.