Cabinet approves call for three new judges

Cabinet has approved issuing a public call for the appointment of three new judges, justice minister Jonathan Attard announced on TVM's Insights.

Attard explained that two of the appointments are meant to ensure "a smooth transition" between the new judges and those that they will be replacing soon, as two senior judges will be retiring shortly.

The justice minister explained that the third judge would be appointed in order to address what he called, "a substantial rise in commercial cases" that the courts are experiencing. After talks with the chief justice, Attard said that the appointed judge would be an additional member of the judiciary and will be assigned to the commercial court as is necessary.

Attard also hinted at the creation of a commercial court. As of today, commercial cases fall within the competence of the commercial section of the First Hall of the Civil Court.

In October of 2022, chief justice Mark Chetcuti had cited delays and lack of resources as the main issues facing the courts.