Delays at the law courts got worse instead of better in 2013, the latest EU statistics show.
And Malta still had the second most inefficient justice system in the EU.
The EU Justice Scoreboard shows that while in 2012 it took an average of 707 working days to resolve civil, commercial and other cases, it took 83 more days in 2013.
In Denmark, which ranked top of the table, it takes a mere 18 days on average for cases to come to a conclusion – lightning speed compared to Malta.
2013 was the year a new Labour government commissioned a report on reforms needed in the justice system, which was released in November containing more than 400 proposals. A few of the recommendations – including ways to reduce the delays – started to be implemented last year but most are still on paper.
The EU’s statistics are based on decisions taken by the courts of first instance and do not include the length of time a case takes if an appeal is filed.
The regression in 2013 can be observed across the board.
In the case of civil and commercial cases only, which make up the bulk of the courts’ case load, the waiting time for a first court decision increased from 685 days in 2012 to 750 days in 2013.
When it comes to administrative cases, the time needed for a judgment increased from 1,467 days in 2012 to 2,036 days in 2013. These longer delays came even as the number of court cases dropped over the last four years.
According to the scoreboard, while in 2010 there were 1.2 new cases filed for every 100 inhabitants, the introduction of new cases dropped slightly to one case per hundred inhabitants in 2013.
On the positive side, the EU said Malta’s justice system in 2013 resolved more cases than the number of new cases filed. However, the pace still slowed when compared to 2012.
Besides Denmark, Estonia, Poland and Austria also registered highly efficient justice systems.
On the other hand, only Portugal had a worse record than Malta – the same situation as in 2102 – while Italy was third.
Still, even Italy’s delays are half those in Malta, with a court case in Rome taking an average 369 days to produce a judgment.