The Maltese are the EU citizens least likely to go to court, according to the annual Justice Scoreboard published on Monday by the European Commission.

Fewer than two out of every 100 citizens take legal action, compared with a staggering 38 in Denmark, at the other end of the scale. The situation in Malta has not fluctuated much over the years, although in Denmark the rate has gone down from a high of 47 in 2010.

However, Malta does not rate as well when it comes to the time needed to resolve cases, ranking the fourth-worst with just over 400 days average, after Portugal, Cyprus and Greece.

Having said that, the situation in Malta is considerably better now than it was in 2010, when the average length of proceedings was over 800 days.

READ: Malta has plenty of lawyers but not enough judges, EU scoreboard finds

The scoreboard found that the pending caseload is being chipped away, with around five per cent more cases being resolved than added in 2016. In 2015, the rate was around 10 per cent more than were being added, while in 2010, it was the reverse, with more than 15 per cent more being added than resolved.

The 2016 rate put Malta at the best end of the scoreboard in terms of shrinking the pending caseload.

Malta moved up three places since last year in the rankings concerning the rate at which the pending caseload was being reduced, the government pointed out in a statement.

It also noted that the average time taken to resolve a case had been improved but stressed that it would do more to ensure that this downward trend continued, with reforms already in the pipeline to ensure this.

The scoreboard gives more information about the accessibility of the justice system and the independence of the judiciary. Read the full report in the link below.