1,698 magisterial inquiries pending, one since 1979

There are currently 1,698 magisterial inquiries pending, information tabled by Justice Minister Jonathan Attard in Parliament shows.

One of the magesterial inquiries dates back to 1979.

The minister was responding to a Parliamentary Question posed by PN MP Jerome Caruana Cilia.

The information shows that there are 186 pending magisterial inquiries which were launched this year, 574 pending which were launched in 2022, 275 pending which were launched in 2021, and 172 pending which were launched in 2020.

There are also 446 pending which were launched between the years of 2010 - 2019. There are six pending since 2009, one since 2006, four since 2005.

There was one inquiry pending since each of the years 1992, 1991, 1990, 1988, 1989 and 1979.

Prime Minister Robert Abela recently sent a letter to the Chief Justice about one of the more recent magisterial inquiries, regarding Jean Paul Sofia, highlighting the "totally unacceptable" delay to the finalisation of the magisterial inquiry regarding Sofia, citing the sensitivity of the case. 20-yearold Jean Paul Sofia was killed after a factory which was being built in the Corradino Industrial Estate collapsed while he was in it on 3 December last year.

So far, nobody has been charged in connection with the death and the government has been resisting calls for the launching of a public inquiry on the basis that the magisterial inquiry into the case is still ongoing.

In a recent interview with The Malta Independent on Sunday, Opposition Leader Bernard Grech said: "Robert Abela continues to be stubborn and tries to use the magisterial inquiry to convince everyone that there is no need for a public inquiry." He went on to call the letter that Abela wrote to the Chief Justice a 'gimmick'.