[WATCH] Acts presented in the civil court will be available online

The Ministry for Justice has launched a new online service by which citizens will be able to see and track their acts presented before the civil court.

The online service - available on mobile, tablet and desktop - is accessible via e-id on justice.gov.mt/onlineservice, 'My Acts'.

Addressing a press conference, Justice Minister Owen Bonnici said the service will allow citizens with a case before the civil court to follow the acts presented in their name. The acts are also searchable by date filed, with the system keeping a tab on the status of the act.

Thanks to this service, a citizen will be able to see via his mobile whether, for example, his affidavit was filed by the lawyer. 

"We are opening up the operations of the court administration to public scrutiny while giving immediate access to the citizen," Bonnici said.

The minister said the new system will also help to move initiated procedures forward without taking longer than necessary.

He said that initiatives undertaken by the courts' administration since May 2015 have helped to decrease the number of pending cases before the civil court. The minister added that the government was committed to continually improving the service while amending the civil procedure to make it faster.

Asked whether the system will be applied to criminal courts, the minister said the situation was different as not all documents would be available.

"Given the higher sensitivity of the cases before the criminal courts, maximum caution is required," he said, adding that the administration will first see the implementation of the new system in the civil court.