Courts of Justice, Valletta, Visitor Guide & Things to Do Nearby

The Courts of Justice is the main law court building on Republic Street in Valletta, Malta, a working courthouse set in the middle of the capital's historic street grid. It stands on the site of an older palace, and the ghost stories told about that earlier building have made the spot a favourite on Valletta's spookier walks.

The story behind it

The present building replaced an older palace on the same ground. According to the stories told about it, that older building housed a police station in the 1930s, and it gained a reputation for strange happenings. One officer was said to have been dragged violently out of bed while he slept, and another claimed to hear chains rattling again and again. Cold spots turned up at random, and several people reported seeing the figure of a monk.

The best-known tale concerns a night guard who heard a prisoner screaming in a locked cell. When he went to check, he supposedly saw the monk hovering outside the cell before it floated towards him and passed straight through his body, leaving him shaking. In the 1960s the ruins of the old building were pulled down to make way for the current courts. Workers are said to have found a skeleton bricked up inside a wall, and many retellings blame the hauntings on this unknown figure. These are local accounts rather than documented fact, but they are part of what makes the place memorable.

What to look for

• Look at the scale of the building along Republic Street and how its 20th century lines sit among the older stone buildings around it.
• Notice the people coming and going on working days, since this is a living courthouse and not a museum.
• Stand across the street and picture the earlier palace on the site, the one said to have held the police station of the 1930s ghost stories.
• Pay attention to the street itself: Republic Street is Valletta's main axis, and the view along it in both directions shows the city's planned layout.

Tips for your visit

• Allow ten to fifteen minutes for the exterior, longer if you pair it with a stroll along Republic Street.
• This is a working court, so access inside depends on court business. Check current rules before planning to enter.
• Weekday mornings are busiest with legal traffic, while early evening is calmer and suits the ghost stories better.
• Other major sights of old Valletta are a short walk away, so it fits easily into a wider day on foot.

See it on a quest

The Courts of Justice is one of the places you pass on Ghosts of Valletta: The Psychological Distress, a self-guided walk with a ghostly theme. You reach the courts on foot as one stop of a longer route through the city, the app tells you about the place as you arrive, and you solve a puzzle based on what is in front of you. There is no guide and no group to join, and you can start whenever you like. It is a paid quest, and one ticket covers the whole group.