Bounced cheques used as payment in court

Cashiers at the law courts are no longer accepting cheques unless these are produced by lawyers or legal procurators who regularly make use of the offices there, the director of finance and administration, Angelo Agius, said yesterday.

Mr Agius was asked why the court had stopped accepting cheques after a person complained to The Times about the matter. The man even filed a report with the Ombudsman claiming discrimination.

Mr Agius said it had been decided not to accept cheques unless they were bank guaranteed because some people were paying by cheques which bounced.

In all, 18 cheques, for a total value of Lm8,500, had bounced in the first three months of this year. Trying to trace what the cheque was paid for and tracing and following it up was wasting a lot of time for staff, he said.

"There are seven cash points at the law courts and it is very laborious to find out who accepted the cheque and what the payment was made for. When it is eventually traced, one has to reverse the entry and then chase the file to be able to take it from there. So it was decided not to accept cheques unless they are from people regularly working at the law courts who are known to the cashiers," he said.