Instead of being led by police officers, prosecutions in Magistrate Francesco Depasquale’s courtroom this morning were led by a lawyer, the government said in a statement.

This is a pilot project following which a long-term strategy will be put in place.

Malta is one of the few countries where the police, apart from investigating cases, act as prosecutors of the accused. This leads many officers to be on duty for long hours in court at the same time when they are working on other investigations.