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6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 27 MARCH 2022 OPINION 2 maltatoday EXECUTIVE EDITOR Matthew Vella mvella@mediatoday.com.mt Letters to the Editor, MaltaToday, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 E-mail: dailynews@mediatoday.com.mt Letters must be concise, no pen names accepted, include full name and address maltatoday | SUNDAY • 29 JANUARY 2023 Justice requires quality, not just quantity Editorial IN its efforts to expedite Malta's sluggish justice sys- tem, the government faces an uphill struggle on two fronts. Clearly, the judicial is in dire need of an up- grade in terms of manpower and support-structures. But equally clearly, there is need for such posts to be filled with people of integrity, and with the opera- tional capabilities to succeed on the job. In the immediacy, however, the main challenge is to respond to a demand for greater resources. For several years now, members of the judiciary (and other facets of the court system) have been arguing that the law-courts are too under-staffed, and un- der-equipped, to deal with the ever-growing backlog of cases. This problem has only grown more urgent in re- cent years: partly because of an exponential increase in Malta's population: which inevitably results in an increase in both crime, and criminal proceedings. And unless there is a corresponding boost to the resources available to the law-enforcement sector – including also the police – the problems with our already encumbered law-courts can only be expected to grow. Meanwhile, there is evidence that government un- derstands the 'quantity' side of the problem, at least – as evidenced by the recent appointment of four new magistrates to the bench – but unfortunately, it still remains a drop in the ocean, compared to the amount of resources that are actually required. Among the chief complaints raised by the judici- ary, for instance, concerns the lack of support staff available to magistrates, to help with the caseload. It is this stumbling-block – far more than the lack of actual magistrates – that contributes to the lengthy delays involved in so many trials. Very often, court-hearings are deferred simply because (among many other issues) the transcripts will have not been delivered on time; or because of a failure to properly notify appellants beforehand. This points towards a lack of support-staff – namely court assistants and messengers, in this instance – and not merely towards an undersupply of serving judges or magistrates. From this perspective, Prime Minister Robert Abe- la was perhaps being disingenuous, with his claim that: "We allocated all the resources that were asked of us by the court." In truth, those 'allocated resourc- es' fell far short of the demands made by Chief Jus- tice Mark Chetcuti, in his annual address last Octo- ber; or by the President of the Association of Judges and Magistrates, Mr Justice Francesco Depasquale, in an open letter published in August 2021. For the record, those demands included not just additional manpower: but also improved working conditions (including salaries) for court-employees. As Chief Justice Chetcuti put it: "lawyers are keener on practicing the profession in the private sector as it pays more money." And this becomes particu- larly significant, when one considers the second hurdle facing the justice system: the need to attract top-quality legal minds, to fill the more sensitive, critical posts. It is already bad enough that judges and magis- trates – posts which require years of experience at the bar – can only be filled by lawyers: many of whom will have to abandon a far more lucrative career in the private sector, for an underpaid (and, truth be told, somewhat thankless) job on the bench. To be fair, the recent appointments mark a new development on this front. For the first time in re- cent history, magistrates have been chosen directly from the private sector – instead of being promoted directly from the AG's office, as was common prac- tice previously. The fact that no fewer than 12 appli- cations were received (of whom four were selected) also provides hope for the future. Nonetheless, the judicial bench faces a daunting task of enticing successful lawyers away from private practice, and into the public service. And while this may be par for the course, even in other professions and areas of employment: it becomes particularly troublesome, when it comes to addressing the most glaring problems at the law-courts. Namely, the lacklustre record in criminal prose- cutions, as a result of substandard prosecution. As aptly noted by our court reporter Matthew Agius: there has been a noticeable decline in standards – as well as results – within the Office of the Attorney General, in recent years. And unlike the case with the justice shortage: there has been no sign, so far, of any efforts to address this problem. On the contrary: the AG's office has continued to 'lose' high-performing prosecutors to the private sector: including Charles Mercieca who (inaus- piciously) left in 2020 to join the defence team of Yorgen Fenech, accused of masterminding Daphne Caruana Galizia's murder in 2017. Moreover, it seems (even from the results) that these are being replaced by "inexperienced or un- derachieving prosecutors, some practically straight out of university and with little to no experience in private practice." It cannot escape notice that this state of affairs may even benefit certain 'interested parties' – as al- ready suggested by the outcome of recent high-pro- file money-laundering cases – to the detriment of the rule of law. Either way, however: it is clear that government cannot claim, at this stage, to have given the justice system all the resources it needs, to carry out its functions expeditiously; neither on the 'quantity' side, nor – even less – when it comes to 'quality'. 27 January 2013 Fight against corruption dominates Joseph Muscat's speech IN the wake of the PN's electoral programme launch, Joseph Muscat highlighted some of the PL's key proposals in a speech held at the Valletta Waterfront. The fight against corruption was high on Mus- cat's list, with the Opposition leader again insin- uating that a commission is still being skimmed off the top of Malta's daily oil purchases. "Persons with oil-stained hands exist. The country buys €360 million worth of oil yearly, amounting to almost €1 million per day. Doubts are growing and the government has a lot to answer to. Who has an interest in keeping this current system up," Muscat said. "With this government's plan we will contin- ue buying €1 million worth of oil per day, with someone taking a commission on this. Political corruption is a tax on all of the population. The Prime Minister is telling people that if he is trusted in government again, he will not bother with a whistleblower act. He is telling people within his own party to not speak up against corruption as they will not be protected." Muscat assured that all those coming forward with information about political corruption will be protected by a Labour government. "Malta together with Albania is the only Euro- pean country without a law on party financing. This party is the only one that publishes its ac- counts. Not only has the party financing law not been implemented, but also the Prime Minister has said that it is not a priority for its legislature." Muscat said that the Labour Party is willing to hand back power to the public. Reference was made to electing individuals onto public entity boards, instead of just relying on ministerial appointees. Muscat again called Malta's current power stations "cancer and asthma factories," rubbish- ing claims by the minister for health that they are not a significant health hazard. On the PL's education plan, Muscat said: "Year 4 children will have a new tool to move forward with a tablet. We are glad that the teachers' union has said that they need time to adapt to this. That is a part of our proposal; there will be time to adapt. This is a proposal that will cost €1.5 million." ... Quote of the Week "I have no knowledge of this kitchen cabinet, and I can tell you I was not part of anything of the sort." Former minister Konrad Mizzi insists he was not part of former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat's 'kitchen cabinet', which, according to former finance minister Edward Scicluna, made decisions and gave the go-ahead on certain controversial projects MaltaToday 10 years ago