Prosecutors and legal procurators within the State Attorney’s Office will benefit from improvements in their working conditions and wages, including in the financial package, after the first collective agreement was signed in the history of this office.
The Minister for Justice and Construction Sector Reform Jonathan Attard presided over the ceremony in which the first collective agreement of the State Attorney’s Office was signed just a few years after its establishment. The Minister meant this milestone as another clear proof of how committed this Government is to strengthening the Rule of Law and the institutions of our country, not just with words, but with facts.
“We strengthened the State Attorney’s Office not only with better conditions, but also when it comes to human resources. In 2013 you had 30 lawyers working in the Attorney General’s Office who handled the civil as well as the criminal aspect. Today in the State Attorney’s Office alone we have 30 lawyers and with 70 other lawyers in the Attorney General’s Office. This means 100 Lawyers and legal procurators engaged with the state to serve in these two offices only. And this without including over 30 people in the administration”, repeated Minister Attard.
He stressed that the investment in the human resource is one of the keys to the success of this government and recalled how the financial allocation for this office rose to almost €3 million per year. In fact, by the end of this year the Office is foreseeing the recruitment of five additional lawyers in different scales and two legal Procurators.
Minister Jonathan Attard stressed how with this collective agreement they are ensuring that they offer the necessary support to this institution so that the legal professionals within it fulfill their duty in the best possible way and in the interest of justice.
This collective agreement – which took place through a social dialogue between the UħM representing the workers, the State Attorney’s Office, the Permanent Secretary within the Ministry for Justice and Industrial Relations Unit within the Prime Minister’s Office – will ensure that the State Attorney’s Office has within it motivated, trained and committed lawyers to face the current challenges and those that develop from time to time.
They also addressed those present at the signing ceremony of the collective agreement, the State Attorney Dr. Christopher Soler and the CEO of UħM – Voice of the Workers Josef Vella. Also present were the Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister Joyce Cassar, the Permanent Secretary within the Ministry for Justice Johan Galea, as well as workers in the State Office and representatives of the Industrial Relations Unit in within the Office of the Prime Minister.
