The strategy adopted to tackle the backlog of pending civil court cases was proving to be successful, according to the first statistical report on law suits presented by Justice Minister Austin Gatt yesterday.

The first publication of its nature, The Courts of Justice 2001 analyses data relative to the various courts, and carries the first-ever age analysis of pending cases. This shows that the perception that most civil cases have been pending for many years is incorrect.

Indeed, the statistics indicate that 28 per cent of civil cases have been pending for over five years; 20 per cent between four and five years; 32 per cent between one and three years; and 20 per cent for less than a year.

Dr Gatt said the figures showed a drop of 15 per cent in the number of pending civil cases, compared to the figure for the previous year.

The total number of pending cases was down to 11,985 from 14,861 at the end of 1998, an overall drop of 19.3 per cent.

If the trends emerging from the report continued, it was envisaged that the number of introduced cases in the Civil Court, First Hall, would decrease by some 800 a year compared to 2000. If judges maintained their current disposal rates (about 3,000 a year), the present backlog of 8,900 cases should decrease at a rate of some 900 cases a year, meaning that in four years, the backlog figure would be of about 5,000.

As regards the Magistrates` Court, the decrease in the number of introduced cases should be around 500 a year and the increase in the disposal rate would be of some 1,000 cases, which would translate into less than 1,000 pending cases by the end of 2002.

Dr Gatt said the 2001 decrease marked the third consecutive reduction in pending civil case figures since 1999. The trend of yearly increases in pending civil cases, registered between 1991 and 1999, seems to have been reversed.

The report also showed that the Constitutional Court has decreased its backlog by 27 per cent, with 46 pending cases. The disposal rate of appeals (206 per cent) is the highest it has been for the last five years, according to the statistics.

The Civil Court of Appeal (Superior Jurisdiction) has reduced its backlog by 13 per cent, with 893 pending appeals - the best figures registered in the last five years.

On the other hand, the Civil Court (Inferior Jurisdiction) has marked an increase of 53 per cent in pending appeals, standing at 245 in Malta and 14 in Gozo. It is one of the few courts that registered negative results in 2001, and the problem was that they seemed to have become a pattern, the report said.

The Civil Court (First Hall), where the main backlog problem lies, has registered a decrease of 10 per cent, standing at 8,900 and 1,219 cases in Malta and Gozo respectively - a major improvement compared to 10,244 in Malta at the end of 1999 and 1,403 in Gozo last year.

The statistics also showed that the Magistrates` Court (Civil Jurisdiction) has decreased its backlog by 38 per cent, with the number of pending cases down to 1,892 in Malta from 3,591 in 1998.

Dr Gatt said the age analysis for appeal cases was positive, as was that for the Magistrates` Court (Civil Jurisdiction), where 31 per cent of cases were pending for less than a year and 57 per cent for less than two years.

Total case loads in the Criminal Courts, presided over by judges, was down to 149 cases from 581 in 1997 - a decrease of 37 per cent over the previous year.

In the Magistrates` Court (Criminal Jurisdiction) case loads have again decreased by 18 per cent, and the number of pending jury trials (32) was down by 30 per cent over 2000. The number of pending appeals from jury trials has decreased by 11 per cent, while the number of pending appeals from the Magistrate`s Court and from administrative tribunals has decreased by 48 per cent, standing at 76 from 453 in Malta.

In effect, only 30 per cent of the cases pending before the Magistrate`s Court concern criminal action.

Dr Gatt said the results of the four civil tribunals were also positive and, despite the change in the financial competence of the Small Claims Tribunal, the pending caseload and throughput figures have been maintained.

Because of the increase in competence, the Small Claims Tribunal has registered a growth of 201 pending cases in Malta, marking a total of 1,262. However, 96 per cent of the cases have been pending for less than one year, indicating a positive throughput rate nonetheless.

Dr Gatt said the "disaster", created in 1997 and 1998, during which the backlog of cases in the Civil Court had increased by a third, had not yet been completely resolved, despite the positive results achieved over the last two years.

Dr Gatt explained that the amendment to the financial competence of the various courts, which came into effect on July 2001, has decreased the number of cases going to the Civil Court, First Hall. The intended shift from the Civil and Magistrates` Court to the Small Claims Tribunal has occurred and, if the trends registered in the last months continue, the number of adjudicators in the tribunal may need to be increased further.

The variance in court-related costs, introduced in October 2001, seemed to have had only a slight effect on the introduction of new cases, the report pointed out. Changes in the Civil and Magistrates` Court were minimal, while those for the Small Claims Tribunal were much higher.

The report said a strategy was being devised to achieve an even higher throughput of cases at the level of the Magistrates` Court, with the review in Parliament of procedures governing criminal prosecutions. The Justice

Ministry has also set up a commission, which is examining the role technical experts play in criminal prosecutions.

Traffic-related offences, misdemeanours and contraventions, which still fall under the competence of the Magistrates` Court, are also being studied. The question of whether it was still appropriate for traffic cases and misdemeanours to be still treated by magistrates, and whether they could be heard at local council tribunals, was also being tackled.

A commission has also been set up to investigate the possibility of further depenalisation, aimed at decreasing the pressure on the Magistrates` Court and allowing it to focus on more important criminal charges.

The report also includes case throughput analyses in the civil and criminal courts of individual judges and magistrates. It includes the results of each judge and magistrate - the number of cases introduced, disposed of and still pending, with age analysis.

According to Dr Gatt, the "satisfactory" results emerging from the report were also caused by the fact that, following heated debate, the judiciary had understood and taken on the challenge of changing their mentality in the way they managed cases.

The government had also strengthened the internal administrative backbone of the courts, setting up a new management and executive structure.

A bill, which is intended to further improve the administration of justice, and on which there was consensus, was intended to be published this month. If the bill was approved by July, as was hoped, the implementation of the reforms - including the introduction of the master system, whereby cases would be held by appointment - would start by October.

Court services and related information, dating back to 1994, would also be available on the internet by the end of the year.

On the Family Court, Dr Gatt said amendments have been discussed and approved and it was hoped that it would be up and running by the beginning of next year.

The Courts of Justice 2001 report is intended to be compiled and published on a yearly basis, together with short extracts of the more relevant data at more frequent intervals throughout the year. Every month, a report is to be issued on the progress of court cases, Dr Gatt said.