The government has signed a promise of sale agreement for a building that will host the new Gozo courthouse, Justice Minister Jonathan Attard revealed in parliament on Tuesday.

More details on this will be disclosed in the coming days, he said.

While speaking about his Ministry's budget estimates for the next year, Minister Attard shared this update on the long-awaited need to move away from the present courthouse in Gozo, and into a new building to resolve increasing court demands and accessibility issues.

The Minister for Justice and Reform of the Construction Sector said that the government has heard several criticisms over the present Gozitan courthouse over the years. Noting that issues with the present building in Victoria have been present for a long time - over a decade - Minister Attard said that while previous PN administrations swept this issue under the rug, history will show that this Labour government did not.

"I am proud to say that this government will be taking this important step. What others tried to sweep under the rug, not only do we face the challenge, but we find solutions," Minister Attard said: "I am happy to announce that a promise of sale has been signed for a building that will host the new and modern Gozitan Courts."

Earlier in Tuesday's plenary, the PN's justice spokesperson, MP Joe Giglio, appealed for a new courthouse to be constructed in Gozo. He said that the present courthouse cannot keep up with its present case load and that workers within it have been struggling to work more efficiently inside it.

Criticisms about the current court house have been made for many years. The government had opened a Preliminary Market Consultation for the building of a new courthouse in Gozo back in November 2022. At the time, the government had stated that cases at Gozo's Courts had in recent years increased and the functions and operations of the courts has become more complex, thereby making it evident that the existing building is no longer adequate to hold the courthouse.

In September last year, it became apparent that a site previously slated as the place for the new Gozitan Law Courts was to host a commercial centre instead.

During this discussion, Minister Attard said that the budget estimates discussed in this plenary demonstrate a "clear vision" by government - one that puts people at the centre of every decision and prioritises improving people's lives, "because strong families are the foundation of a strong economy, and therefore a strong country."

He said that the government would like to strengthen dialogue on the justice sector with the PN, though he stated that to do this, the Nationalist Party must cut ties and "move away from its extremist groups."

Minister Attard also appealed for a standards commissioner for the judiciary to be named and appointed sooner rather than later so that any and all ethical issues with members of the judiciary can be appropriately reported and resolved through this new formal channel.

He noted the ongoing digitalisation efforts within the judicial sector to improve court efficiency and simplify records.

Among this digitalisation, introducing artificial intelligence (AI) into the Courts was mentioned by both principal speakers of either parliamentary side: Joe Giglio for the Opposition and Minister Attard in response. Amongst several proposals brought forward on behalf of the PN Giglio recommended that AI is used by our courts. He said that while AI as a tool may decrease the need for legal assistance, he believes that legal assistants will still stay around in local courts once AI is introduced there.

In response, the Justice Minister said that the government, at a point, had contemplated launching a pilot project with the University of Malta on AI within the courts. He added that this proposal has several ethical implications, however, Attard said "we must be positive" instead of looking towards the negatives on this matter.

During his speech, Minister Attard chastised the Opposition at several points for blocking constitutional amendments earlier this year that had many implications to the justice sector. Earlier this June, the PN parliamentary group had blocked a bulk of constitutional reforms from being introduced that were set to implement several suggestions made by Chief Justice Mark Chetcuti.

Minister Attard reminded that this package of reforms would have raised judges' retirement age by two years, as well as created new Constitutional Court sections, the strengthening of the appointment process of the Chief Justice based on recommendations from the European Commission, and addressed legal lacunas that could lead to impasse in the eventual appointment of an Auditor General.

Earlier in this plenary session, PN's Giglio said that calls for the appointment of judges should be continuous, and not announced because the government is pre-empting an incoming vacancy through the approaching retirement of a judge.

After sharing some of the PN's proposals for the judicial sector, Giglio said that "we don't feel that our University and the law course is outputting a level of advocacy that is worthy of what people expect out of our lawyers."

"We should explore how to improve the course," Giglio said.

He continued that the product emerging from the University of Malta affects how justice is implemented, and that its graduates are the future faces of the justice system.

"I don't think it is nice or good that today you have students who tell you that they did not manage to enter certain courses, and so instead, they enter the law course. It is unacceptable that the law course has become a dumping field for students who couldn't enter other courses," Giglio said.

Giglio also called for the judiciary to be increased in size until the case load per member is brought down from the average of 500 cases per person today to around 150-250 cases per member of the judiciary, as suggested by Chief Justice Mark Chetcuti, he said. Giglio noted that judicial members' high case loads are making their lives difficult and is stifling the judicial system's efficiency and effectiveness.