A memorandum of understanding was signed today between the Legal Aid Agency, within the Ministry for Justice, and the Department of Active Aging and Community Care, within the Ministry for Active Aging. Both parties are agreeing to cooperate together on legal assistance to the elderly.
Through this agreement, the Legal Aid Agency will be receiving from the Active Aging and Community Care Agency referrals of elderly people who need legal assistance. This process will be carried out digitally through the system used by the Agency known as LARS (Legal Aid Referral System).
Thanks to this agreement, the elderly will be receiving assistance for both civil and criminal cases, especially if they are victims of crime or have suffered gender-based violence. The Legal Aid Agency will be covering the administrative costs and for the provision of legal services to these elderly people.
All those who are over sixty years old and are going through social difficulties can be eligible for this service. Among the services offered, there will be the coordination of meetings between the Lawyers and the elderly through online means with the assistance of social workers, the preparation of necessary legal applications and applications, including to f in certain instances cases are heard electronically through videoconferencing.
The parties are also agreeing to collaborate together and offer a specialized survey and exchange of information to the respective workers, as well as an awareness exercise to ensure that the elderly enjoy more knowledge about their rights.
The Minister for Justice Jonathan Attard stressed how the strengthening and investment in the service provided by the Legal Aid Agency is an integral part of the Government’s plan in the Justice sector, which is intended to ensure that offers a better service both to the public and to the professionals involved in the sector.
The Minister for Active Aging Jo Etienne Abela reiterated that through this collaboration, elderly people who are being followed by social workers and need legal help will be assisted so that this help is more accessible to them.
The agreement was signed by the Director of the Legal Aid Agency Bruno Zahra and the Chief Executive of the Department of Active Aging and Community Care Renzo De Gabriele. For the signing there were also present the respective Permanent Secretaries of the two Ministries and representatives from the Legal Aid Agency and the Active Aging and Community Care department, as well as a number of non-governmental Associations.
For more information contact the social workers on 22788243. Orcan e-mail socialworkunit.aacc@gov.mt.
