Judge bashes poor court administration for leading to miscarriage of justice

A senior Judge of the Superior Courts had strong words about the current state of affairs at the law courts, which, he said, is leading to the miscarriage of justice.

In a court decree involving the arrest of a vessel, Judge Ian Spiteri Bailey lashed out at how the current lack of resources and skills has become the order of the day.

He complained that in this case, and many others, the Court is being constrained in its work due to the inefficiency of the court’s administration.

The case in question was supposed to have been treated with urgency, but Judge Spiteri Bailey said that it had taken the court administration 20 full days to process a necessary application on a case that was meant to have been urgent.

This meant that the urgent decision expected from the court could not be delivered on time, with the consequence that the case’s intention had practically fizzled out with time.

“This means that due to the delay in processing by the court registry – which took 20 days to process an urgent application – other circumstances, both legal and factual developed, completely affecting procedures,” the Judge said.

Observing how the case was typical of the current state of the administration of justice, he said that “these problems are now impacting the delivery of justice itself” in areas such as the maritime sector in this case and in which Malta’s international reputation is at stake.

“It is not acceptable that a judicial act takes 20 days to be delivered to a Judge,” Spiteri Bailey said.

Directing his harsh criticism toward the government and the Court Services Agency, the Judge identified the lack of qualified personnel as the main reason behind the ongoing crisis.

He said that all this is happening as the court is massively lacking in the number of staff it requires, particularly in those with the necessary skills.

Judge Spiteri Bailey also criticised the fact that all court applications are being processed by the same registry, which does not even have the necessary tools to work.

He suggested that the court should have separate registries, including some specialised in certain areas such as maritime affairs, intellectual property rights and certain commercial sectors.

Court delays in Malta have been a massive problem for decades but the situation has been aggravated in recent years.

This was also confirmed by the EU’s latest Justice Scoreboard, which compares the delivery of justice across the bloc and which placed at almost the end of the table when it comes to efficiency.

Justice Minister Jonathan Attard insists the government is committed to delivering “courageous reforms” and investing in infrastructure and administrative resources to achieve “the best possible results”.

Judge Ian Spiteri Bailey’s decree can be read here.