Names of accused people and witnesses will be published in the press when court officials cannot find them, in line with a new court notification system being implemented on a trial basis.

The pilot project was being tried in cases heard by Magistrate Franco Depasquale and started yesterday, the Justice Ministry said.

One of the main reasons for delays is that witnesses and accused people are not officially notified to appear in court because they are not traced. Under the new system, a court summons would no longer be distributed by the police, allowing officers to focus on more useful work, the ministry said.

A delivery person will seek to reach the person in question at their registered address twice in one week – on a weekday and on Saturday, in the morning and in the evening. If the person is not found, the document will be left in the letterbox or on the doorstep. The document will include information about the two dates when delivery was attempted.

Whenever a notification document is issued because the witness or accused person is not found, the names and the charges will be published in the press. If the document is not published, the summons will be invalid and the person not considered as having been notified.

The magistrate would have the right to order the witness or the accused to appear in court under arrest if they failed to turn up after being personally notified or if the press published their name.

The government appealed to the Opposition to support the proposal to allow magistrates hearing minor cases involving many people, such as traffic cases, to hand down judgments even if the accused fails to appear.