Over half the Maltese do not perceive justice system independence to be “very or fairly good”, figures show. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

Fewer people believe in the independence of Malta’s courts and judiciary, it has emerged, with only just under half the population regarding the justice system’s autonomy as “very or fairly good”.

Figures issued recently by the European Union’s statistics office, Eurostat, showed that this year, 45 per cent believed the independence of the island’s justice system to be “very or fairly good”.

The figure marks a five-percentage-point decrease from last year, when exactly half the population said that they believed in the system’s autonomy.

The Eurostat data explores respondents’ perceptions about the independence of the judiciary across EU Member States, looking specifically at the perceived independence of the courts and judges in a given country.

According to the figures, the EU average for these perceptions has stood at 56 per cent so far this year, which is a slight increase from 55 per cent in 2017.

The highest percentage was recorded in Denmark, where 87 per cent believed the country’s justice system to be independent, while at the opposite end of the scale, Croatia registered the lowest rates.

I appeal that politicians should choose their words wisely, because they may have an effect on perception

Last month, the European Commission noted in its country-specific recommendations for the 2018 European semester that Malta’s “justice system continues to face challenges with regards to its efficiency”, calling for the strengthening of legal and institutional frameworks to fight corruption to ensure a high-quality business environment.

Asked if the government was concerned about the recent figures and what was being done to address the issues, Justice Minister Owen Bonnici said that during her visit last week, European Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, Věra Jourová, had met key stakeholders, including the Chief Justice, the Association of the Judiciary and the Chamber of Advocates, before stating that “she did not perceive any external pressure on the judiciary”.

“I appeal that politicians should choose their words wisely when talking about the judiciary, because the words they use may have an effect on the perception of independence.

“On Monday, I had to issue a statement to clarify incorrect statistics and incorrect ‘facts’ stated by the leader of the Opposition about the ‘alleged taking over of the judiciary’ by the party in government.

“This surely does not help in the perception of independence of the judiciary when the facts prove that the independence of the judiciary is supreme and total,” Dr Bonnici said.