There was a time when the law courts stopped for the summer recess and everybody was able to plan some time for the family. Now this has stopped and we have reached a stage when the judiciary can take their holidays but the lawyers cannot: lawyers are at the mercy of the judiciary. Our law says that court sittings are to stop after July 15. But there are cases that bind the judiciary to carry on with sittings and others which, although not bound by any law or any time, continue in the heat of August. We have been insisting for ages for the court to order that at least, during the month of August, all time-limits will be suspended so that everybody would know that for the month of August other things can be planned.
But so far nobody has taken any stand on the matter, so we still have sittings on the eve of Santa Marija, and the weeks after. If these are sittings which by law could not wait any longer I understand. But for certain members of the judiciary to hold these sittings in the middle of August, just because they do not take their holidays in this month, is something very disrespectful indeed.
The situation has now reached a point where work is obviously being duplicated, because applications for another date of the sitting flourish in the month of August and the staff would have to go through the same work again, notifying the accused with the new date of the sitting.
In criminal cases the judiciary is bound by time limits and so is the Attorney General, but the Court has the power, without waiting for the blessing of the Minister of Justice, to declare that these time limits will be suspended. In this way, the public would know where it stands, the lawyers would be able to plan their holidays and so will the staff at the law courts.
In the past we saw more respect from the judiciary and we reciprocated this respect by convincing our clients that in summer, everybody deserves a break and so the judges and the magistrates and their applications could wait till September. Nowadays I am afraid that this understanding has been betrayed by certain members of the judiciary when they took the stand to appoint the sittings at their own convenience, without taking into account that lawyers have their lives to live too, and they have families to attend to as well.
So now many lawyers are making applications in the heat of August as well, because they argue that if nobody respects them, why should they respect others?
The irony is that the judiciary can take their holidays all year round, and with the stroke of a pen they issue a notice in Court stating that there will be no sitting, whereas the lawyers and the public cannot do that. Lawyers have reached a point where they are even requested by some judges to submit documentation proving that they will be away before their request for another date of the sitting can be considered!
The situation is untenable. It is high time that somebody takes a stand and declares that no sittings are held in the month of August. In this day and age, with internet, mobile phones, etc, having a break is no longer a luxury but a way to recharge your batteries and avoid mental illness. I am afraid to say that who is supposed to be doing all this talking is with keeping his mouth shut.
Since the Court does not want to lift a finger on the situation, the Chamber of Advocates ought to make representations with the Minister of Justice and the President of the Court so that this moratorium is declared for the month of August. It is unfair for us lawyers to be faced with the appointment of court hearings for this month and within one or two weeks’ notice, when most of the time we had already made other plans. These are cases which are not bound by any time limit and so there is no haste in doing them in August.
It is also unfair for the client to be told to find another lawyer: the client-lawyer relationship is a fiduciary relationship. It is true that lawyers are now mushrooming from our university after lowering the entry requirements to the barest minimum. Now the students in the law course can be the least qualified in all the university. In my time 30 years ago, the B.Educ students had the lowest entry requirements; now it is the law course – in this course the entry requirements go up and down depending on who’s who.
It is also true that there are many lawyers who are being given a minimum wage and puerile conditions of work. Brussels and Luxembourg are providing a good working opportunity for lawyers but not everybody wants to work abroad. The young lawyers are being made to work long hours, on a minimum wage, as self-employed, with no leave, or sick leave, and they are promised half the lawyer’s fees when a court case is concluded. But as you know, court cases are not concluded overnight and so many years have to pass before they see this bonus.
Needless to say, the work at the Family Court carried on with the same stimulus and it is high time that another judge is added to that Court because the volume of work is unbelievable. The judges took it in turns to try to cope for this month of August and they obviously need their break too and so we did not expect the decrees and decisions to keep up the same pace. At least there they understand that August is a time for a break.
But in the Criminal Court I am afraid there is no such understanding; and neither is there any understanding with the magistrates’ court, although in the latter case these are bound by the time-limits imposed by law. But they can do some kind of pressure and join forces with the Chamber of Advocates and ask the President of Malta, as chairman of the Commission for the Administration of Justice, to intervene, so that the time-limits are suspended for the month of August.
I wish that this plea does not fall on deaf ours and hope that come next August, we will not be inundated with court sittings. Give us leave in the month of August please!
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Our law says that court sittings are to stop after July 15. But there are cases that bind the judiciary to carry on with sittings and others which, although not bound by any law or any time, continue in the heat of August. We have been insisting for ages for the court to order that at least, during the month of August, all time-limits will be suspended so that everybody would know that for the month of August other things can be planned.
