Probation officers have since Monday only been handling a small number of cases as a result of industrial action ordered after collective agreement talks with the government stalled.

Probation officers are tasked with supervising offenders who are not handed an effective prison sentence but instead put on probation.

Sources who spoke to Times of Malta on the condition of anonymity said that since the action was ordered, some 24 probation officers have only been dealing with 15 cases daily, as opposed to some 60 cases.

This meant that hundreds of people who are on probation were currently impacted, the sources said.

The Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin, which represents the workers, confirmed that an industrial dispute had been registered and that action was ordered on Monday.

Probation officers are also tasked with drafting reports for those requesting parole, with the sources saying that this process, too, was affected as a result.

According to the sources, the action was called after long-running talks on a new collective agreement stalled when the proposals brought to the table by the government were not those that had been agreed upon.

Probation officers have only been dealing with 15 cases daily

Questions sent to the Home Affairs Ministry on the matter remained unanswered by the time of writing.

In recent years, the director of the Department of Probation and Parole, Miriam Sevasta, had lamented that probation officers in Malta were stretched too thin, telling this newspaper that a team of 24 was tasked with following some 1,000 offenders.

Probation officers are tasked with supervising offenders who are not handed an effective prison sentence but instead put on probation.

This period can last from one to three years. When it comes to suspended sentences, a probation officer may be required to shadow the offender for up to four years.