Eight Gozitan notaries have presented a judicial protest in the Magistrates Court (Gozo) against the Director of the Public Registry, Gozo, the Permanent Secretary at the Justice and Home Affairs Ministry and the Permanent Secretary at the Gozo Ministry, citing unfair treatment regarding access to notarial deeds concerning property registered in Gozo.

Joanne Cauchi, Enzo Dimech, Kristen Dimech, Mariosa Grech, Maria Grima, Josianne Mifsud, Maria Vella Magro and Josepha Xuereb said that since the Gozitan notarial records were transferred to Malta by a private company four years ago, they have encountered, and are still encountering, serious difficulties in carrying out their work due to the long distances they regularly have to travel to gain access to the said deeds and documents.

The notaries said that, to a large extent, their work consists of verifying notarial

documents relating to immovable property transfers. Before being taken over to Malta, they said, the documents in question had still been kept in Gozo, although the Gozitan Public Registry had been closed in the mid-19th century.

They said that the Public Registry Director used to compile a list that helped everyone verify these documents according to Chapter 56, Line 24, of the law.

The notaries said that the director allowed all relative indices, documents and hypothecs to be transferred to Malta under the pretext that they were to be electronically registered and would eventually be brought back to Gozo.

However, they said, four years later, these documents have still not been returned to Gozo but are being kept in the offices of a private company in Valletta.

The premises in which these deeds and documents are being kept, said the notaries, do not have adequate security and neither are the documents accessible electronically. They said that this situation is creating a backlog and incorrect official research that is seriously compromising their work.

The notaries also said that the system to order the research and verification of documents is not functioning properly, with excess charges and duplicate procedures.

They called on the relevant authorities to return the said documents, deeds and hypothecs to the premises in Gozo without delay – as had, after all, been promised for years – and reserved the right to seek any damages according to law.

The protest was signed by Dr Joseph Ellis.