Overall, the majority of judges and magistrates seem to be in agreement with the protocols that have been established for the reopening of the courts, a spokesperson for the Justice Ministry told The Malta Independent.
It was recently announced that the courts will reopen on Friday.
Sources from the courts reported to this newsroom that there were a number of magistrates and judges who did not want to start going back to court before clear protocols and measures are in place.
After contacting the Justice Ministry about this, a spokesperson for the ministry confirmed that these protocols were discussed this morning.
The spokesperson explained that on Monday, a meeting was held between the ministry, the health authorities, the Chamber of Advocates, magistrates and judges in which the reopening of the courts was discussed. However, according to sources, some judges and magistrates were still unsure about going back to work as usual.
Today, they held another meeting in which they discussed the conditions on which the courts will reopen and the spokesperson said that overall, everyone to whom the protocols apply are satisfied with the end result.
The sources also said that certain Legal Procurators are only working one-hour shifts and this newsroom asked for clarification from the ministry. The spokesperson said that they could not confirm the exact hours that Legal Procurators are working since there was a shift in the way they were working due to Covid-19, just like other places of work.
Courts were shut down earlier on in the pandemic in order to minimise the spread of Coronavirus in Malta, however, urgent cases were still being processed at the courts themselves.