Just a couple of years ago, the powers that be decided to install a scanning machine and a walkthrough metal detector in our courts.

The catalyst which led to this move was an attack on a judge by a person who managed to smuggle a bag of horse manure into the court – he pelted the judge and all those present with it.

Many laughed the incident off at the time and there was all out rebellion after the security measures were put in place. Some lawyers refused to pass through the metal detectors and would vehemently oppose any attempt at a search made on their person.

The media (many have the same person in day after day, year after year) were also irked by the decision and there was a backlash.

The Ministry stated that the measures were taken to improve the safety of the law courts for the judiciary and the general public. Oh what a backlash. The Minister was told in no uncertain terms that Malta is a civilised country and we did not need to see such things introduced here.

How very wrong. In the end, everyone accepted the walkthrough and body scanners as well as the X-Ray machine, but the backlash was completely out of proportion... when you put it into context, of course.

So let us just do that. In Germany, a Russian-born German man has been found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison for fatally stabbing a pregnant Egyptian woman in court, an attack that triggered outrage in the Muslim world.

Alexander Wiens, 28, admitted stabbing Marwa al-Sherbini to death at a 1 July court hearing in Dresden.

Al-Sherbini, a 31-year-old pharmacist, was stabbed at least 16 times by Wiens in the Dresden courtroom where she was to testify against him. She had filed a complaint against him in 2008, accusing him of insulting her with racial slurs, calling her a “terrorist” and “Islamist” during an altercation.

Many German courts, including the one where the killing took place, have no security checks at their entrance. Prosecutors said the defendant used a kitchen knife with a 7-inch (18-centimetre) blade that he had brought into the courtroom in a backpack.

Her husband, a scientist conducting research in Dresden, was stabbed and suffered serious injuries when he intervened to protect her. The couple’s 3-year-old son was in the courtroom and witnessed the attack.

The attack, as you can read above was horrific. And it came to be because there was no security at the door. So yes, in hindsight, the ministry was completely correct in installing the new security features in our courts. We are a small country and we have one building to serve as our law courts. That includes district courts, traffic courts, the Criminal Court, the magistrates court, the Constitutional Court, the Civil Court (forgive us if we leave any out). The point we are trying to make is that courts are a ticking bomb, as proven by the local manure case and this horrific case in Germany.

Everyone deserves to be safe at the workplace and people deserve to be safe when they are in one of the highest institutions of the land. So yes, security at the door was a good decision. A damn good one.