Junior minister slams unacceptable court delays

Exaggerated delays in court procedures are "completely unacceptable," parliamentary secretary for justice Owen Bonnici said today.

In a statement issued today the junior minister said, "if anyone has grown accustomed to an everything goes mentality, the current administration will not tolerate such situations at a time when the country is making a big effort to be among the best in Europe."

Citing a court judgment given two days ago in which a man who was first arraigned in and accused of importing and trafficking drugs, was awarded €6,000 in compensation after a court found that his proceedings in court had been unjustifiably prolonged, in violation of his human rights.

The junior minister pointed out that the case was not an isolated one, "but reflected a situation in which a series of shortcomings in the penal procedures, leading to people's right to a fair hearing in a reasonable time being breached."

"The people deserve much better. Judgments that are delivered within six months in countries which were established well after ours do not nee six years to be delivered in Malta," the junior minister said, adding that the government was committed to introduce justice reform by the end of the year.

While saying that it was not pointing fingers at any member of the judiciary, the government added that the system needed a structural overhaul.

Noting that the government had undertaken a number of initiatives to reform the justice system, including the appointment of the Commission for Holistic Reform in the Justice Sector led by former European Court of Human Rights judge Giovanni Bonello, which had issued two documents for discussion and was expected to come up with a final report in October.