Some 130 people who stand accused of serious crimes are still awaiting a trial by jury, as pending cases increased from 80 in May to 106 in November, figures tabled in parliament show.

Of these, 20 trials by jury have been appointed and another eight are waiting to be appointed, but the majority - 78 - are stalled for a variety of legal reasons and some of them are pending psychiatric expert reports.

In these 78 cases, the accused people amount to 95.

Justice Minister Jonathan Attard published the figures on Monday, in a reply to a parliamentary question by PN MP Ivan Bartolo.

Last May Attard answered a similar question, saying there were 80 pending jury trials, some of which date back up to 13 years.

In May, 65 cases were stalled due to legal issues.

In Malta's justice system, jury trials are reserved for crimes that are deemed too serious to be heard before a court of magistrates.