There are 603 more pending cases in the criminal courts than in 2013, according to the yearly statistical overview.
On the other hand, the civil courts have 1,181 fewer pending cases than in 2013.
Justice Minister Owen Bonnici yesterday presented a “warts and all” overview of the criminal and civil courts’ performance between January and December 2015. The statistics were computed using a model standardised by the European Council.
Dr Bonnici noted that the courts must do their bit to help propel the economy forward. A country could not have a strong economy if business cases took ages to be decided. The fast resolution of civil and commercial cases ultimately led to a better economy and more liquidity.
The positive results in the civil courts demonstrated that the backlog was being successfully attacked, he said.
The clearance rate (which is the relationship between incoming and resolved cases, expressed as a percentage) stands at 112 per cent – up from 99 per cent in 2012. Better results are expected in 2016 with the implementation of changes in civil procedure and the first full year of court attorneys.
In 2015, for the second time in the last three years, the Court of Magistrates – which carries 95 per cent of the criminal caseload – had resolved more cases than the number of incoming cases.
Meanwhile, the negative showing of the Criminal Court of Inferior Appeal (which hears appeals from the Court of Magistrates) is “intimately linked with the exceptional fact that two out of three judges have retired in the past months”, ministry official Joanne Battistino said. This court’s performance is expected to improve this year.
The ‘average’ number of days for a case to be decided in the criminal courts is 359. In 2013, this stood at 291 days.
Meanwhile, for civil courts, the figure stands at 626 days, compared to 789 days in 2013.
Asked about a judgment delivered last month by the Constitutional Court which lambasted the State for failing to successfully address the problem of excessive court delays, Dr Bonnici said the case had occurred under the previous administration.
“The people responsible at the time should be answerable. This administration is increasing the resources in an intelligent way, as well as increasing technological tools and introducing new procedures and to speed up the caseload in a drastic way.”
In the criminal field, Dr Bonnici continued, the government had introduced the possibility for the accused to admit to the charges during the compilation of evidence and be handed down a sentence within a month.
The possibility of plea bargaining, which was only allowed in the Superior Appeals Court, has now been introduced in all criminal courts.
Plea bargaining is an agreement in a criminal case between the prosecutor and defendant whereby the defendant agrees to plead guilty to a charge in return for a concession from the prosecutor.
Criminal courts
2011
Incoming cases: 18,647
Resolved cases: 18,047
2012
Incoming cases: 18,598
Resolved cases: 18,281
2013
Incoming cases: 16,960
Resolved cases: 17,896
2014
Incoming cases: 16,985
Resolved cases: 16,686
2015
Incoming cases: 15,154
Resolved cases: 15,150
Civil courts
2011
Incoming cases: 5,059
Resolved cases: 5,009
2012
Incoming cases: 5,498
Resolved cases: 5,417
2013
Incoming cases: 5,103
Resolved cases: 5,012
2014
Incoming cases: 4,983
Resolved cases: 5,052
2015
Incoming cases: 5,026
Resolved cases: 5,614