Malta is one of the leaders in the European Union when it comes to the provision of e-government services, yet the uptake of such services is low, the Parliamentary Secretary for Competitiveness Jose Herrera said today.

Addressing the e-Codex general assembly, Dr Herrera said a study is currently under way in order to establish why the uptake is so low.

The goal of e-Codex – a €24 million EU part-funded project – which in Malta is being supervised by MITA, is to improve the cross-border access of citizens and businesses to legal means in Europe as well as to improve the interoperability between legal authorities within the EU.

“The application of ICT makes judicial procedures more transparent, efficient and economical. At the same time, it helps citizens, companies, administrations and legal practitioners to get facilitated access to justice. This means not only smoother access to information, but also the ability to process cross-border cases more efficiently,” Dr Herrera said.

In his address, Justice Minister Owen Bonnici said that Malta is currently undergoing a justice reform process, and one of the most popular reforms thus far have been IT-related.

Dr Bonnici said he looks towards a future where lawyers spend less time in the court registry thanks to the provision of e-justice services.

“I believe that the e-Codex project represents a quantum leap forward towards making cross-border justice accessible to the citizen and as the project moves towards closure I trust that the continual sustainability of the achievements will be on the top of the project’s agenda.”