Cases before the Administrative Review Tribunal may be filed online as from next month. 

Adrian Avellino from Mita, the government's IT agency, gave a brief demonstration of the system, in which court applications are written and signed by a lawyer and legal procurator, as normal, but then scanned and uploaded by the practitioner into the system.

A digital signature is then clicked and the total costs are immediately presented to the user. Once these are approved, a secure payment gateway pops up, allowing the user to pay by credit card 

Justice Minister Owen Bonnici said the strength of a government was measured by the power it handed the citizens to contest its decisions, adding that this was reflected in the choice of the tribunal, in which grievances against decisions by government entities such as Transport Malta, the VAT department and utilities suppliers are decided.
 
The minister appealed to legal practitioners to make use of the new tools, adding that he hoped to extend the service to the civil courts in due course. 

In 2013, claims under €3,494 started to be filed before the Small Claims Tribunal through an online form as well.

The average number of cases filed in front of the Administrative Review Tribunal is 275 yearly. 

The clearance rate of cases within this tribunal has shot up to 149 per cent from 25 per cent in 2011. This means that while in 2011, one case was decided for every four filed, today, more cases are closed than new ones filed.