The first justice reform has been announced for this year, as Justice and Governance Minister Edward Zammit Lewis details the revision to make more low-income people eligible for justice. free legal aid service. It was announced at a press conference that in order to be eligible for the services of a Legal Aid Lawyer, you must earn less than € 13,000 a year.
Minister Zammit Lewis explained that the law on the net worth of Legal Aid eligibility, “which was updated about four decades ago, was not reaching as many people as the net financial value of the person exceeds the limit set by law, that of € 7,000 per year. This does not reflect the costs that citizens have today and therefore will not be able to defend their rights before the Courts of Justice because they cannot hire a Private Lawyer. The law will now allow an applicant to pass the most reasonable means test, which reflects the current cost of living. Therefore, the net worth of a person being eligible for aid will be raised to € 13,000. “
He stressed that through this reform of the Legal Aid service provided by the Legal Aid Agency, more vulnerable low-income citizens are being reached and that they have every right to be assisted with legal aid as required by law. .
“What we have announced today continues to show how much this government is ready to help our institutions achieve their goals. Through this, the vulnerable in our society will continue to have more tools to defend themselves and their rights. This is the government of minorities and it is continuing to show this with more reforms for more accessible justice “, concluded Minister Zammit Lewis.
