Drivers of members of the Judiciary are refusing to undergo security training, as they want improved working conditions, The Malta Independent has learnt.

Discussions with the union representing the drivers of the judiciary for their members to receive security training are still underway, and are not yet concluded, sources said.

The security training would include being taught how to check for bombs beneath vehicles.

This newsroom sent questions to the Director General of the Law Courts Frank Mercieca, asking for confirmation that the drivers of the judiciary are refusing to go through security training, what the reason was and who would provide such training.

In response, Mercieca sent a one-line answer: “I can confirm that at present discussions are still underway with drivers and union.”

In the wake of the murder of Maltese Journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who was killed by a car bomb, and in light of the work conducted by the Judiciary as the ones who order the imprisonment of people guilty of crimes, the need for their protection is of high importance.

Judiciary drivers are not police or army officers.

In the past, members of the Judiciary had faced threats by persons standing trial before them. As an example, back in 2015 Magistrate Miriam Hayman had told a court how a man, Pasqualino Cefai, had threatened to kill her, a police inspector and his family in a fit of rage in her courtroom,

The man received a jail sentence for his actions.