Malta lacks a mechanism to ensure that legal guardians of disabled people are held accountable, according to National Commission of People with a Disability (KNPD) director Anna-Marie Callus.

Ms Callus said: "There are no legal safeguards to ensure guardians are doing their job properly and to ensure there is no abuse."

In the case of mental disability, the relatives of the individual or the attorney general may file a court case requesting that person's 'interdiction' on the grounds that that person is not competent to look after their own interest.

When a disabled person is interdicted, he is essentially stripped of his civil rights. The request for interdiction is filed in court by relatives of the individual or the attorney general outlining the grounds for the move.

The court appoints a guardian to manage his or her property - including the disability pension and any inheritance.

The commission is insisting on the need to amend the law to include an accountability structure for guardians and introduce the concept of supporting decision-making through which the guardian would involve and help the disabled person make choices, no matter how limited.

Guardianship accountability is one of the issues Malta must resolve before it can finally ratify the International Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities.

After signing the convention in March 2007, the Office of the Prime Minister set up an inter-ministerial committee to study which laws would need to be amended to pave the way for ratification.

Although the relevant laws have been identified, Malta does not yet have a timetable for ratification, Ms Callus said.

A teacher by profession, Ms Callus has been involved with the commission since 2001 before she assumed the role of executive director in January.

One of the biggest challenges faced by the commission, she said, was giving disabled people equal citizenship in all areas of life.

"The issue of supported living affects most disabled people. Many depend on their parents who cannot take care of them forever. Although there are some community homes and supported living services, they are not enough to meet demand.

"Supported living is about disabled people living in a home of their own choice, on their own or with people they choose, and doing the things they want to do and with the support they need... More needs to be done to enable disabled people to be in control of their lives and not just be passive recipients of services," she said.

However, financial independence is also an issue. The disability pension is 55 per cent of the national minimum wage, which is low considering the costs that disability often brings with it.

Ms Callus said the law allowed disabled people to top-up their pension by working part-time, but their combined income could not go beyond the minimum wage for them to remain eligible for the pension.

Social Policy Minister Dolores Cristina last week said the government wanted to redesign the concept behind disability benefits and consultations would to be held on how these could be re-formulated.

One of the roots of independent living is access to education. The government recently launched a reform of special needs schools. Ms Callus welcomed this initiative but said that it needed to be backed up with better employment structures and support.

"Up till the age of 16, disabled students are thought to have the same aspirations as their peers, as it should be. But when they leave school they find brick walls all around them," she said.

When it came to employment, Ms Callus said, one of the biggest problems was that employers still perceived disabled people as recipients of charity rather than prospective employees.

"We think of ourselves as being independent, and of disabled people as dependent. But we forget how many things there are that we need help to do," she said.