The Nationalist Party has voiced its concern about the situation in the Gozo Courts, and expressed full solidarity with lawyers, employees and anyone who needs to go to the court.

On Monday, a group of 20 lawyers who would normally work within the Gozo Courts, highlighted “failiures in administration within the court,” that left them unable to carry out their work, their boycott until the existing shortcomings are addressed has resulted in cases having to be cancelled at the Court.

In a statement on Wednesday,Chris Said PN Spokesperson for Gozo, Joseph Ellis Spokesperson for Justice, Constitutional Reform, Social Dialogue and National Broadcasting and Kevin Cutajar Spokesperson for European Funds and Voluntary Organisations, explained that despite many promises and costly spending on studies and permit applications, the Government has not yet identified a new site for the Gozo Court, nor has it continued develop the Nationalist Government’s plans to construct a new building for the Gozo Court.

The PN argued that, “there seems to be little encouragement on the part of the Ministry for Gozo to carry out this project. This is despite the fact that the limitations of the current site are well known and many people are experiencing great difficulties to be able to reach the Gozo Court.”

In addition, the PN pointed out that “for some years now, and especially after the establishment of the Services Agency at the Court which took over the staffing there instead of the Ministry for Gozo, the Gozo Court has been deprived of the human resources needed to carry out its functions.”

Several Gozitan employees who worked at the Malta Court were recently transferred to Gozo, but in other departments outside the Court, this despite the urgent needs of the Gozo Court. The PN said that, “until a few years ago, the Gozo Court was a beacon of efficiency as everyone knew, but this ceased to be the case after the establishment of the Court Services Agency.”

The PN stressed that, “the current situation in Gozo Court is a clear demonstration of the failure of the Court Services Agency which is not devoting the necessary resources to the proper functioning of the Gozo Court.”

The statement concluded by saying that, “all this shows the lack of interest and commitment on the part of the Government and especially the Ministries of Justice and Gozo, which allowed the problems in the Court to accumulate without paying attention and above all, it shows how much a Government is cut off from reality.”

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