Chief Justice Silvio Camilleri this morning called on the government to seriously consider finding a new site for the law courts, saying the existing building was too small and had reached “saturation point”.

“We cannot keep papering over the cracks as the Valletta law courts have reached maximum capacity,” he said.

Ironically, the Chief Justice sounded his warning during the inauguration of the new premises for the family court registry. While welcoming the project, Dr Camilleri made the point that the introduction of new services as well as the increase in the number of magistrates and judges to cope with the increased case load, had taken its toll over the existing premises.

“We seriously need to consider shifting the law courts to a new site as even though three new court rooms are being added, there is no office space left,” he said.

The Chief Justice said the problem would only get worse as new halls would be required to cope with the increase in the members of the judiciary. At present, Malta still lags behind the EU average in terms of the number of judges and magistrates per capita.

Apart from shifting all members of the judiciary to a building in Strait Street, three new halls would be operational by the end of the year

In his reaction, Justice Minister Owen Bonnici listed the various measures taken by the Labour government to address this problem. He noted that apart from shifting all members of the judiciary to a building in Strait Street, three new halls would be operational by the end of the year.

“You cannot start planning for the long term, if the short-term issues are not addressed and this is what the government has done so far.”

Questioned by Times of Malta whether the government was considering finding a new site for the law courts, Dr Bonnici made no commitments.

"I tried to be positive in my speech as the government was faced with a pressing situation, but now that the short-term problems have been addressed we can start looking to the future."

However, the Justice Minister conceded that at some point the issue of new premises would have to be explored.

“We need to consult all stakeholders and ensure that the site is environmentally sustainable” he pointed out.