Victims of crime are glad to hear they might finally be given a voice during criminal proceedings where, according to a Nationalist Party electoral proposal, they will be given access to legal aid lawyer.

In practice, victims seldom have access to free legal aid in criminal matters

But legal aid lawyers feel more lawyers need to be recruited if they are to cope with this increase in workload.

According to a Justice Ministry spokesman there are currently 13 legal aid lawyers and the plan is to recruit more “according to demand”.

The PN electoral programme proposes extending the use of legal aid lawyers to victims of crime who can not afford to appoint a private lawyer to protect their interests.

“The implementation of this measure would change the focus of our criminal justice structures from an offender-centred approach to a more equitable approach where the needs and concerns of victims are put on a par with those of offenders,” said Roberta Lepre, director of Victim Support Malta, an NGO that works to help victims of crime.

Allowing victims with limited financial means to appear in parte civile in criminal cases meant they had a voice during the relevant proceedings, she said.

“They would also be kept informed of all aspects of the case, since they would be a formal party to the case rather than merely being called in as witnesses, if at all – which is the situation at present. Additionally, the advocate for legal aid assigned to the victim would be able to cooperate with the police during prosecutions,” Dr Lepre said.

At the moment eligibility to legal aid is regulated by a means test when it comes to civil cases. In criminal cases, however, the law restricted victims’ eligibility to legal aid.

“In practice, victims seldom have access to free legal aid in criminal matters,” she said.

Two legal aid lawyers who spoke to The Times, but preferred not to be named, said that if the caseload was going to be increased, more lawyer had to be appointed.

They said that one of the biggest problems was that legal aid lawyers were not paid well compared to theworkload. They are paid just over €2,300 a year which they supplement with their private work.

The ministry spokesman said the criminal courts kept no records of the use of legal aid lawyers.

Another problem, the two lawyers said, was that many people who actually used legal aid lawyers could actually afford their own lawyer. So there was the need for improved screening.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.