Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici says it is high time for the justice system to slash at least half of its hefty expert expenses.

Figures obtained by The Sunday Times show that the court paid out €855,572 to different court experts in 2007 and €433,083 until July this year.

Architects account for 29 per cent of the 2007 costs, while lawyers account for another 21 per cent.

Over 35 different professions, from interpreters to private investigators, are engaged by the courts to assist with different court cases, but Dr Mifsud Bonnici believes there is much scope to trim the costs.

"The figures can be controlled - we are forking out money on expert advice we sometimes don't need," he said.

Dr Mifsud Bonnici, who has already underlined the need for a revision in the magisterial inquiries systems, said he would be carrying out a restructure of expert witness costs.

The minister said he hoped to have a new system of commissioning experts in place by the end of this year, which can be fine tuned further in the following years.

"The expenses are mounting and we need more control," said the minister, as he emphasised the need to have all parties on board in any restructure to ensure the criminal court processes are not delayed in any way.

Does the minister fear abuse in the current methods of appointing court expert witnesses?

"I wouldn't call it abuse, but we're not realising the consequences. For example, if someone is accused of fraud in financial regulations - it doesn't necessarily have to be a lawyer or an accountant who carries out the financial research into a case, it could be a court official."

The minister's comments echo the views of Chief Justice Vincent DeGaetano, who in a recent interview with The Sunday Times criticised the amount of money being pumped into the appointment of experts.

The Chief Justice had said that experts should be given clear terms of reference.

"If you have a break-in into a factory for example, what's the point of appointing an expert to assess the value of the entire contents of the factory?" he had said.