Over 1,400 magisterial inquiries remain pending in court

Over 1,400 magisterial inquiries remain pending in the Maltese Law Courts, according to figures published by the Justice Ministry.

The number of pending inquiries has remained well over the 1,400-mark since at least 2011. As at 2022, the number stands at 1,403.

2019 was a record year, with 1,726 pending magisterial inquiries in court.

A magisterial inquiry can only be launched after receiving a request from the police or from a private citizen.

The inquiry is then assigned to whoever is duty magistrate on the day of the request. This works on a roster system.

According to a separate dataset published last week, there are another 80 jury trials that remain pending in court. The longest-standing delayed case dates back to February 2008.

In Malta, the use of juries is limited to criminal trials in the Criminal Court for criminal offences which exceed the original competence of the Court of Magistrates. The bill of indictment is drawn up by the Attorney General as the prosecutor before the Criminal Court.