Lawyers should start volunteering some of their time to help people who cannot afford representation in court, as a way to strengthen the under-resourced legal aid system, according to a review report commissioned by the Government.

The report, drawn up by Mr Justice Joseph Camilleri, recommends collaborating with the Chamber of Advocates to introduce the pro bono system as part of the legal aid service.

Specialised lawyers could, for example, volunteer their time and be called in when their expertise was needed.

The legal aid service should not be considered to be a charitable service. This is a basic right

The present legal aid system has been criticised for many years, with the main recurring issue being the lack of resources.

The report into the system had been commissioned by former justice minister Chris Said and was concluded recently.

Parliamentary Secretary for Justice Owen Bonnici has now handed it over to the Justice Reform Commission, headed by retired Judge Giovanni Bonello.

The development comes shortly after a group of 18 foreign inmates at the Corradino Correctional Facility went on hunger strike for just over 24 hours to protest about the legal aid on offer, among other issues.

Reacting to the protest, Dr Bonnici said they were “100 per cent right” to complain about the system.

The report stresses the need to inject more resources into the legal aid office and strengthen the means testing of those potentially eligible.

The report quoted the head of the legal aid office, Malcolm Mifsud, complaining that the office operated from a room at the law courts consisting of a “a table and a few chairs”.

There was no clerk to help out with the extensive paperwork.

Persons are eligible for legal aid if their salary does not exceed the minimum wage and if they do not have more than €7,000 in their bank account. Other assets, including property, are not taken into account.

The office only keeps statistics of the number of people who benefit from legal aid without accounting for how many apply for the service.

Dr Mifsud said legal aid lawyers were not well paid considering their workload – just over €2,300 a year, which they supplemented with their private work.

At the moment there are about 13 legal aid lawyers. The report recommends that the number should increase to at least 20.

In the report Mr Justice Camilleri noted that there was no means testing carried out in the Magistrates Court – unlike in the criminal and civil courts – and anyone who applied, “even if rich”, got access to legal aid.

In the recommendations the judge underlined the urgent need to better equip the office, provide a clerk, give the lawyers a better salary and extend the opening hours from the current six per week to normal office hours.

He also recommended extending the use of legal aid so that lawyers could give legal advice before a case went to court.

Victims should also benefit from the service.

Moreover, the office should no longer form part of the Attorney General’s office and legal aid lawyers should undergo specialised training.

“The legal aid service, offered to those who cannot afford to pay, should not be considered to be a charitable service. This is a basic right… if a justice system does not offer this benefit, or offers it in an inadequate manner, a vulnerable section of society will be deprived of the fundamental right of a fair hearing by the courts,” Mr Justice Camilleri said in the report.

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