Updated 1.46pm 

Maltese courts are managing to reduce their case backlogs and wrap up cases faster than before but remain underequipped at communicating with the media, an EU scoreboard has found. 

The 2017 EU Justice Scoreboard found that Malta has managed to almost halve the number of days needed to resolve civil, commercial, administrative and other cases since 2010. It is also the member state with the fewest number of such cases per 100 people. 

The country has also made great strides in cutting down the length of litigious civil and commercial proceedings, from more than 800 days to slightly over 400. 

READ: Criminal courts lag as civil case backlog is eased

Disputes between citizens and authorities are now being resolved in an average of 500 days, when in 2010 cases took a staggering 2,700 days - or more than seven years - to sort out. 

Malta ranks poorly when it comes to the number of judges per 100,000 people. Graph: EU Justice Scoreboard

When it comes to lawyers, Malta is not lacking. Graph: EU Justice Scoreboard

The improvements mean local courts now have clearance rates above 100 per cent, meaning they are clearing cases faster than new ones are coming in. 

Addressing a press conference, Justice Minister Owen Bonnici noted that Malta had registered the highest increase in female judicial appointments as well as the highest increase in the resolution rate of administrative cases.

Asked why no data was provided on the average length of money laundering court cases in Malta, Dr Bonnici explained that this data was sourced from the European Commission and not national institutions.

The Justice Minister said the government would continue to seek to increase the number of magistrates and judges, but that this could not be done overnight due to space and staff limitations at the courts. 

Despite improvements in efficiency, the judiciary remains woeful by EU standards in the ways and means it communicates with the media. 

While the judiciary has established guidelines for communicating with the media, it has no official tasked with explaining any of its decisions to members of the press. Only Cyprus and Greece fare worse. 

The report also found that Malta: 

• Has one of the lowest number of judges per 100,000 inhabitants in the EU - but among the highest rate of lawyers 
  
  
• Just four EU member states, including Malta, do not require judges to undergo compulsory training
  
  
• Ranks in the middle of the pack when it comes to the public's perception of the judiciary's independence
  
  
• Still lags behind other member states when it comes to lawyers and the courts using electronic means, with less than 40 per cent communicating via email and a negligible percentage using ICT to sign documents electronically or make submissions to the court

The EU Justice Scoreboard gives a comparative overview of the efficiency, quality and independence of justice systems in EU member states. 

Apart from assessing courts' efficiency and means of communication, it also compares how easily consumers can access justice, how judicial members are appointed and trained and how member states' citizens view their judiciary. 

Main sources of scoreboard data are provided by the Council of Europe Commission for the Evaluation of the Efficiency of Justice. Other sources of data include European networks such as the European Network of Councils for the Judiciary and the Network of the Presidents of the Supreme Judicial Courts of the EU, the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe and various committees in specific areas of EU legislation.