People who want to settle a Court fine can now avoid from having to go physically to the Courts and instead pay it online. Through the online system, which is already functional, fines can be paid through the e-ID services by using the link https://justice.gov.mt/onlineservices.

The new service, which was developed by MITA and launched by the Ministry of Justice, Culture and Local Government, will enable citizens to pay fines from their homes or from anywhere else. It has a lot of advantages, considering that many fines issued by Court can be paid on instalment basis over a number of months.

The Superior and the Inferior Courts issue around 4,000 fines per year. These fines result from decisions of court cases or cases of contempt to the Court. Before, these fines had to be paid by the guilty person, or a representative of this person, who had to go to Court and pay the fine in person. It was also possible to pay the fine by sending a cheque.

Now, the Maltese Government is offering the possibility to pay fines through an online service which is very user friendly. The service is also very secure to protect the user's identity. The user needs to insert a unique number together with the number of the fine so that the personal information of the user is protected.

This is the 16^th IT service which has been developed by the Government for the Justice sector. Other services which were introduced in this legislature included the facility of receiving an SMS in case of court case deferrals, receiving emails with the transcriptions of witnesses, receiving emails with Court decrees, online notifications, online presentation of official letters and the facility to check judicial acts online. These services are all provided free of charge.