Luckily we have experienced a few changes, one of which has been to abolish the writ of summons (known as citazzjoni) and replace it with a sworn declaration. This means that instead of filing a writ of summons and a sworn declaration, one just files the sworn declaration, which is a consolidation of both documents. This should simplify and speed up the filing of civil cases, making it less onerous for the plaintiff.

Another recent change has been to add a new type of judicial letter, one which intimates the recipient that if he does not reply to the letter within thirty days, the letter becomes executive title. This means that the person who filed it can proceed to file executive warrants and recover the amounts claimed. Caution must be exercised when handling these letters, and a person is well advised to contact his lawyer upon receipt of such a lawyer.