We’ve again been told that a main reason why court cases take so long is because there are too few judges and magistrates.

Now, I was under the impression that this problem had been mentioned for quite a while and that over the years the number of judges would increase, which is actually what happened.

I remember too how it used to be said that there was a need for a stiff increase to the salaries of judges and magistrates so that there would be a real incentive for the best and the brightest to join the judicial service. What was not also said so clearly but also implied, was the point that judges would have no financial excuse that might explain why some took it easy on their job. Actually the salaries and pensions of judges have increased greatly.

And still we remain with the problem that court processes take too long to reach some conclusion, while apparently, delays are becoming longer. Again what is not mentioned relates to the methods by which judges are accustomed to carry out their duties on a personal basis and within an institution: could this be a fundamental element of the problem? The way by which the inquiry is being run into whether the state provided adequate security for Ms Caruana Galizia, indicates that really and truly, the problem of “method” does exist.

Has the time arrived for a “management” audit to be done on how judges and magistrates carry out their work?   

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AUDITING

On the topic of auditing: here, it is given less than the importance it deserves. Even the auditor general’s reports on government finances are frequently ignored, unless a political controversy erupts over some issue or other. Yet auditing... financial and/or managerial... creates the conditions of transparency and should thus reinforce a belief among citizens that matters are truly being run properly.

For instance, numerous marathons are organised to collect funds for NGO’s which run activities most worthy. These get levered by much publicity. People contribute generously and in a big way.

Still, it is curious that auditors’ reports about how donated funds have been managed are almost never published. 

As of now, this has triggered practically no disquiet about the collections that go on. Still, such a state of affairs could go into reverse overnight.

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SOFA

The so-called SOFA agreement usually reached between the US and countries in which US military forces are stationed has been in the news lately. The agreement stipulates that US military personnel remain subject to US law if they commit some offence in the country to which they have been posted.

On the US side, moves to reach such an agreement with Malta have been going on for long years. They started as of the years when it was being claimed that naval vessels of the US Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean could come to Malta for maintenance and repairs. But if no SOFA agreement was signed, ships could not be sent over.

Since then, it appears that a number of countries which had entered into such agreements have been having second thoughts and reservations. One understands why. After all only recently, the US authorities did not send back to the UK, nor did they start legal proceedings against, a high diplomatic agent of theirs who had left the country immediately after having hit and killed a woman while driving a car.