The Gozo law courts have failed an accessibility audit conducted by the Commission for the Rights of Persons with Disability which, however, stopped short of outrightly saying it was unfit for purpose.
In its inspection, ordered by Magistrate Joe Mifsud, the commission noted that the law courts were not only vertically inaccessible, with stairs being the only way to get from the groundfloor to the upper levels where the courtrooms are located, but also failed the horizontal test because the different floors had several levels.
The report, compiled by architect Joseph Spiteri and lawyer Bernard Busuttil, the commission’s director of investigations, compliance and enforcement, recommended the installation of a number of stair and wheelchair lifts to make the building somewhat more accessible.