592 couples who filed separation proceedings in the past seven years since the introduction of mediation services had reconciled or otherwise withdrawn or abandoned proceedings, Justice Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici said today.

During during a ceremony during which he presented warrants to new lawyers, Dr Mifsud Bonnici said that in the past seven years, 5,674 couples had filed for personal separation, of whom 2,861 reached an amicable agreement after mediation.

The minister said that there are at present 304 pending cases for marriage annulment, with 115 cases having been presented between January and July this year - compared to 137 for the whole of last year.

It was significant, the minister said, that the number of cases pending before the civil courts, tribunals and boards had, since reforms introduced in 2003, dropped to 11,141 from 15,195, a decrease of 26.7 per cent. The steepest decrease in pending cases was a drop of 54.2 per cent in the cases before the Inferior Civil Appeals Court. There was also a decline of 38 per cent in the backlog of cases before the First Hall of the Civil Court.

The minister said that had been an increase in new cases before the Criminal Apeals Court (inferior) and the Criminal Court, but the number of decided cases was also increasing.