Updated | MUT calls for faster processing of court cases, presents petition naming 2,000 signatories

The Malta Union of Teachers (MUT) met justice minister Owen Bonnici to present a petition with over 2,000 signatures, aimed at raising awareness of the damage caused to lives and careers by drawn-out court cases.

Kevin Bonello, the union's president, said the petition had been sparked by the case of Gozitan LSA Karen Mercieca, whose acquittal from allegations of having sexually abused an 11-year-old girl with learning disabilities, and the subsequent appeal filed by the Attorney General.
Mercieca had originally been cleared in November 2015, after a four-year police investigation that began when the girl claimed that Mercieca had touched her inappropriately at the Ghajnsielem Primary School.

The expected date for a decision in that appeal had been repeatedly pushed back and is now expected to be delivered in January 2017.
The MUT lamented what it said was the courts' apparent disregard for the effects such cases have on the individuals involved. Five years down the line, her plight was far from over.

“The MUT wants to raise awareness that it is totally inhumane and unacceptable that court cases where the career, reputation and the very life of a person are at stake, remain pending for years on end. It must change,” Bonello said.

“It is about time to put a stop to amateurish practices at all levels and build a human-centred service,” he went on to add.
Bonello told reporters that he was meeting with justice minister Owen Bonnici later in the day to present him with the petition in person.

Coincidentally, earlier this morning, Bonnici had launched a €750,000 infrastructure project, to increase the number of available courtrooms in Valletta, together with other measures intended to reduce the time court cases take to be decided.

The justice ministry responded by issuing a statement distancing itself from the courts,

“The judiciary is an autonomous body. The ministry is not involved and does not discuss the individual merit of each case,” it said.

The ministry explained that Mercieca’s acquittal came within less than a month.

“The case  mentioned by the MUT was heard on 27 November 2015 after several allocated sittings were dedicated to both the prosecution and the defence to give proof and to carry out cross-examinations,” the ministry clarified. “The verdict was handed on 19 November 2015 – only 23 days later,” it added.

The ministry referred to comments made by the European Commission, which noted that the reform in the judicial sector has resulted in greater efficiency.

“Statistics show that in the first six months of the year, the clearance rate for criminal cases increased by 2% when compared to the corresponding period in 2015. In civil cases, the number is 10% for the same period. Backlog also decreased by 903 cases.”

The justice reform system aims to implement changes over a three-year period between 2014 and 2017. Amongst other things, it aims to reduce procedural time-frames, a more comprehensive use of technology in court proceedings, more consistency in sentencing policy and the setting up of a customer-care unit.