The Magistrates’ Courts in Malta handed down 426 suspended sentences last year, compared to 479 in the previous year.
In the Superior Criminal Courts the respective numbers were 24 and 38.
Answering a parliamentary question by Carm Mifsud Bonnici (PN), Justice Minister Owen Bonnici added that in Gozo the Magistrates’ Court last year handed down nine suspended sentences, compared with seven in 2013.