Malta among EU’s biggest justice spenders but still slow on verdicts

Malta spends more on its justice system than most EU states but remains one of the slowest to deliver verdicts, according to the 2026 EU Justice Scoreboard.

The annual report, which compares the efficiency, quality, and independence of courts across all 27 EU member states, shows that Malta continues to struggle with massive case backlogs and long waiting times for citizens and businesses.

The report noted that Malta has one of the highest levels of government expenditure on law courts per inhabitant. However, the country also reported the longest estimated time to resolve administrative cases at first instance in the EU, with proceedings significantly exceeding those of its peers.

When it comes to civil and commercial lawsuits, Malta ranks near the bottom of the EU, with cases taking an average of around 500 days to resolve. Only Greece, Cyprus, and in some cases Italy, are slower than Malta in this regard.

The report found Malta takes the longest to resolve administrative cases at first instance. In 2024 it took an average of 1,600 days to resolve each case. This is in sharp contrast with the fastest country, Sweden, which took less than a 100 days to resolve each case that same year.

This is despite the fact that both Malta and Sweden are among the countries with the fewest incoming cases.

Furthermore, the report shows that in 2024 Malta was resolving administrative cases half as fast as it was resolving them 10 years earlier, in 2014.

Efficiency issues also persist in the criminal sector. The report shows Malta is one of only three member states where money laundering cases take more than three years on average to conclude. Only Romania and Greece were slower than Malta.

Few judges, many lawyers

The report also found Malta has one of the lowest numbers of judges per 100,000 inhabitants in the EU. Conversely, the legal market is highly saturated. The country boasts one of the highest numbers of lawyers per capita.

In 2024 Malta had over 300 lawyers, but fewer than 10 judges, for every 100,000 inhabitants.

Malta also lags in digitalisation by both courts and prosecution services - it is almost at the very bottom. Only Greece ranked worse.

And when it comes to electronic communication tools, Malta ranked dead last.

The country is also lagging in the use of artificial intelligence to help with court processes.

But it's not all bad

Despite the many issues, the report highlights areas of excellence. Malta provides a robust legal aid system, offering 100% coverage of litigation costs for eligible citizens in specific consumer cases.

Malta also received a near-perfect score (9.5) for the safeguards protecting the legal profession, ensuring that disciplinary measures are subject to judicial review and that lawyer-client confidentiality is heavily guaranteed.

The report also reveals Malta is one of only five EU states - alongside Estonia, Spain, Latvia, and Slovakia - to provide a full range of digital solutions specifically accessible to persons with disabilities at first instance courts, across criminal, civil, commercial and administrative justice.

These measures ensure that individuals with disabilities can access online judgments, pay court fees electronically, and utilise distance communication technologies like videoconferencing to participate in legal proceedings.

Eligible citizens also have access to online applications for legal aid and the ability to view electronic files and documents for their ongoing cases. 

Public trust in the judiciary, on the other hand, remains in the middle of the EU pack. Approximately half of the Maltese general public perceives the independence of courts and judges as "fairly good" or "very good".