Throughout the course of anyone’s personal or business life, one will most likely encounter a situation which will require legal representation in order to be able to solve an issue or a situation that has arisen and must be addressed in a professional way.
There are two types of methods how a situation can be settled; either as a settlement between all the parties involved in the dispute outside of court, which is referred to as arbitration, or else either one of the opposing parties will take matters to a court of law to settle the case or enforce a particular right in court.
This latter legal process which will allow a judge to decide how the case should be resolved is referred to as litigation. This happens unless the opposing parties settle before trial as settlement is likely to happen at any point during the litigation process. Disputes that are settled through litigation can include commercial disputes, claims against the State and personal injury claims.
Another way to settle issues outside of court is arbitration. Chapter 387 of the Laws of Malta focuses on the Arbitration Act that encourages and facilitates the settlement of disputes through arbitration in Malta.
This Act specifies instances where arbitration is mandatory such as in cases related to condominium disputes, motor traffic disputes that are not in connection with a claim for damages for personal injuries, and other disputes connected with electricity and water services. Handling such cases outside of the court will mean that the duration of the cases will be shorter, making the whole process less time consuming but more cost effective.
