Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/188841
4 News maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 9 OCTOBER 2013 Unprecedented queues prompt calls for justice system overhaul RAPHAEL VASSALLO QUEUING to enter the law courts in Valletta may not be an unheardof experience, but the queues witnessed on Republic Street last week have prompted calls for a review of two specifics aspects of the justice system: security, and the allotment of cases. Last Thursday at around 9am, passers-by were treated to the extraordinary sight of a queue stretching from the main entrance of the law-courts, on Great Siege Square, almost all the way to the corner with St John's Street. Subsequent rumours of an umpteenth bomb scare stretched further still… yet the official explanation supplied for this state of affairs by court officials on site was that the 'security measures' taken upon entry into Malta's only court of law had been changed. Nonetheless there were no noticeable differences to the actual security procedures in place that day, or any other before or since. Upon entry, people were still asked to pass their personal effects through an XRay machine, and to walk through a metal detector, as was the case before the so-called administrative change. Contacted by MaltaToday, Chamber of Advocates president Reuben Balzan admitted to being perplexed by the situation. "I am unaware of any change to the security procedures. There is still just one metal detector to walk through, as there was before. Nor is it clear why there were so many CONTINUES FROM PAGE 1 A pretext for m James Debono MEPA official Elisabeth Ellul, a member of MEPA's Environment and Planning Commission, chairs the ad hoc committee. It also includes Kevin Fsadni from the Malta Tourism Authority and Charlo Camilleri and George Carbone from the Department of Agriculture. The policy is now being discussed at the MEPA board level. Subsequently the draft will be issued for public consultation, and only after this second round of consultation will MEPA issue the policy. Reuben Balzan cases allotted on that particular day. However, the situation does need to be addressed, as otherwise it will only create added delays…" Balzan queried why there has been no effort to increase the security resources in place at the entrance to the building. "Perhaps it is time to consider installing more than one metal detector, and to use more than one entry and exit from the building." Another problem identified as a cause for such delays is an apparent lack of communication, which results in too many cases being allocated to be heard on the same date. Many of these cases, Balzan explained, would be criminal cases in which the accused would have to appear for each sitting or face a possible penalty. "This might explain why the number of people entering the building on one particular may be much higher than on others," Balzan added. "This issue could be addressed by a review of the system whereby such cases are allotted in the first place." In all such considerations, a general lack of human resources remains the single most frequently-cited cause. On the occasion of the opening of the forensic year on 1 October, Chief Justice Silvio Camilleri alluded to this problem as part of the reason for excessive court delays: "There are currently no fewer than 29 vacant secretary posts which mean that no fewer than 13 members of the judiciary do not have the necessary support to operate efficiently," Camilleri said. Mini hotels in the countryside? One key issue is whether to limit agritourism facilities to the footprint of existing infrastructure or to allow extensions and new rooms to existing buildings. MEPA sources expressed concern that developers could use the new policy as an excuse to sanction present illegalities, as previously happened when the previous administration issued a policy which facilitated the development of stables. Interviewed by MaltaToday in May. Parliamentary Secretary Farrugia was already hinting that the government intended to encourage agritourism projects. "We don't have in mind hotels in the middle of the countryside but farms offering a number of limited beds to tourists," Farrugia said. Interviewed on Sunday, Tony Zah- ra, president of the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association, welcomed the government's plans on agritourism while proposing a 15-room limit on such establishments, as exists in other countries. "If you have more than 15 rooms it should not be even considered as agritourism. There should be a clear limit on the number of rooms one is CONTINUES FROM PAGE 1 29 year old Clifton Grima mental health hospital po Grima did admit that every time change happens, doubts arise, and confessed that he gave the offer a lot of thought before accepting DESPITE Farrugia's previous claims that no changes were envisaged in the top management at Mount Carmel Hospital, Grima said that he had been appointed Chief Operations Officer (COO) and will oversee the administration of the hospital. On the other hand, former Mount Carmel Hospital chief executive Dolores Gauci has been appointed COO responsible for community mental health. Grima confirmed that he would be working together with Gauci on a board supervising the sector. Although community care is one of the new Mental Health Act's main priorities, it makes no mention of a chief operations officer responsible for Mount Carmel or community care. The Act stipulates that the CEO is "responsible for the management of a licensed facility". Grima said that his job will be strictly administrative and his main aim in his new role is to create a solid team, which will pilot the sensitive reform envisaged by the Mental Health Act. "I am one of many, I have a team of experienced professionals and I am confident that together we can implement the reforms set by the Mental Health Act in a short space of time," Grima said. He insisted that he had received positive feedback from the hospital's staff, including the managers, doctors, and nurses, adding that there was "room for improvement" in the mental health sector. "So far I have received positive feedback from the persons I will be working with at Mount Carmel. I firmly believe in the importance of creating a strong working relationship with all employees." Asked whether he believed he held the necessary qualifications and capabilities to run such a sensitive institution, Grima said, "I see no problem there. It's a question of addressing the hospital's administrative shortcomings and making the best use of the institution's human and financial resources". The lawyer added that other countries, such as the UK, had appointed a number of non-medical professionals at the helm of mental health institutions. "After all, I will not be seeing patients myself; psychiatrists and doctors will be seeing the patients as they have always done. If I am appointed as CEO of a company selling cars, I'm not required to be a car expert." However, Grima did admit that every time change happens, doubts arise, and confessed that he gave the offer a lot of thought before accepting. Yet the hospital's new COO expressed optimism over his new role and the implementation of the Mental Health Act, saying, "It will not be easy, but it certainly is not impossible." One of Grima's first challenges at the helm of Mount Carmel Hospital will be that of addressing reported abuse of patients. Recently, the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses (MUMN) claimed that children aged 16 and younger in certain wards at Mount Carmel Hospital were being exposed to sexual abuse and physical violence. The MUMN also pointed out that drug addicts, children and patients suffering from various mental diseases were lumped in together at the hospital and accused the health ministry of being