Court experts cost tax payers €10 million in 2020

Court experts were paid €9.7 million in 2020, Justice Minister Edward Zammit Lewis revealed on Monday.

€6.5 million were spent on foreign experts, while €3.1 million were spent on local experts.

The figures were tabled in the House following a parliamentary question by Nationalist MP Joseph Ellis.

Up until 25 May 2021, court experts were paid €3.4 million. €1.8 million has been spent on foreign experts, in comparison to €1.6 million paid to local experts.

Expenditure on court experts in 2019 jumped up to €7.8 million from €3.5 million in 2018.

2019 also saw foreign experts being paid more than local ones for the first time, at €5.8 million and €2 million respectively.

Spending on court experts was the lowest in 2014 during the last eight years, at just €1.2 million.

Experts appointed by court were paid a total of €1.4 million in 2013, €1.3 million in 2015 and €1.3 million in 2016. €2.5 million were spent in 2017.