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.