Concerns about personal safety at new law courts

Personal security is one of the biggest concerns for judicial staff who yesterday started the big move to the new law courts in the Sa Gerreria part of the city centre. The huge operation of moving to the new judicial centre got under way yesterday, bringing all court activity to a halt and sparking protests from the CSI-CSIF union because staff were being forced to help in the move while others expressed concerns for their personal security in the neighbourhood. According to union representatives members of staff were having to help move some of the heavy boxes full of legal documents and case files and the union claimed that its members health and safety was being put at risk. According to the union in some instances, “the files have not been cleaned for years, making the situation very uncomfortable for people suffering from allergies.” The union also criticised the removal company which was contracted to handle all the moving. All of the boxes of files were supposed to have been moved in batches, but they arrived at the new site individually stacked which meant the judicial staff had to move them themselves. It appears that the move has thrown the courts into a state of confusion over the next few days with the state prosecution service apparently closed from yesterday afternoon until December 5. The civil prosecution will also be closed, but urgent cases will be dealt with.