Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1365202
5 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 25 APRIL 2021 NEWS KARL AZZOPARDI THERE are 77 pending trials by jury in Maltese courts, with the longest ones stretching back to 2013. In information requested by this newspaper, the snail's pace of Maltese justice was laid bare with data showing a huge back- log of prosecutions that have yet to heard by a jury after their indictment was issued by a mag- istrate. In Malta, the use of juries is limited to criminal trials in the Criminal Court for criminal of- fences which exceed the origi- nal competence of the Court of Magistrates. The bill of indict- ment is drawn up by the Attor- ney General as the prosecutor before the Criminal Court. The jury panel is composed of nine jurors, one of whom is foreman. They are selected at random from the electoral regis- ter, and parties can object to ju- rors during the selection phase. Non-unanimous verdicts are al- lowed, however at least a verdict of 6-3 must be attained for it to be a legal verdict. The majority of pending cas- es (47) relate to the possession and trafficking of drugs such as cocaine, heroin and cannabis. A 2017 case still pending, relates to accusations on the production and distribution of ecstasy and cocaine. There are four pending trials for hold-ups and thefts: a 2013 crime stretches back eight years. Nine pending juries concern attempted and successful homi- cides, with the case awaiting trial the longest going back to 2014. A 2018 human trafficking case awaiting trial by jury has been awaiting trial for three years. It was carried out by a Maltese perpetrator. Another case pend- ing four years saw a Maltese per- son charged for "arresting" and kidnapping an individual, in an armed robbery. The list of pending trials in- cludes accusations of money laundering, corruption of mi- nors, criminal association, falsi- fication of documents and rape. 11 cases have been await- ing trial for two years; 10 cases have been awaiting trial for six years; 13 cases going back three years which are yet to face trial; six have been waiting for seven years to be assigned a jury. Maltese nationals are the group with the most pending trials, with Italians coming second with six cases, and Nigerian nationals third with four pending trials. Other nationalities include a Brazilian, Egyptian, Gambian, three Libyans, a Scottish person and a Serbian among others. kazzopardi@mediatoday.com.mt Longest pending trial by jury stretches back to 2013 77 cases awaiting trial by jury in Malta