Having judges who only deal with specific areas of the law will enhance their own expertise in that area, Chamber of Advocates President Louis de Gabriele told WhosWho.mt.

Last year, Parliament passed a Bill to establish a separate Commercial Court, which was later published in the Government Gazette. Among other things, this court has jurisdiction over cases which are related to matters regulated by the Competition Act, the Banking Act, the Ports and Shipping Act, the Copyright Act, the Consumer Affairs Act, and others. 

A building earmarked to serve as the new commercial court had been signed over to the Court Services Agency from the Lands Authority, but it has yet to move from the main court building.

Dr de Gabriele was asked about the new Commercial Court, what benefits it will have for the business community and whether this will lead to a reduction in court delays.

“Whether that will lead to less delays is still a question mark which needs to be tested,” he said.

What this will certainly result in, he explained, “is better quality,” because there will be judges who, rather than broadening their knowledge across different areas of law, deepen their knowledge in specific areas, he added.

Dr de Gabriele described this point as important, noting that it is “fundamental” to have specialised judges dealing with specialised areas.

There have been calls for the setting up of other specialised courts in the past. The Malta Maritime Forum previously said that a dedicated maritime court is needed for instance. 

Asked for his opinion on the idea of setting up a separate maritime court, Dr de Gabriele said that an assessment would have to be undertaken to see whether the volume of maritime disputes would justify having an ad hoc maritime court.

“I don’t have the figures. It has to be economically feasible,” he said. “The test would be: Are there enough of these cases, of these maritime disputes that would require the setting up of a specialised court specifically for maritime affairs?”

 During the interview, the Chamber of Advocates President was also asked about the length of time that court cases take.