The Ministry of Justice this morning slammed what it said was an “invented” story published in the Times of Malta on reform in the justice sector, saying that the newspaper is “not informed” about the strong rhythm of changes taking place.

Referring to an article ‘Legal aid system leaving vulnerable with no justice’, the ministry said that contrary to what the newspaper is saying, the Attorney General’s office has stopped paying legal aid lawyers two years ago.

Times of Malta forgot that through Legal Notice 414 of 2014 the government created a new agency to improve the level of service given through legal aid lawyers. This was done to increase the independence and impartiality in legal procedures, and to eradicate the confusion of having the Attorney General’s office paying legal aid lawyers and at the same time acting as prosecutor in cases where legal aid lawyers were involved.

As from February 2015, legal aid lawyers started to be paid via a new system without the involvement of the Attorney General’s office, the ministry said. The agency has its own offices in Archbishop Street in Valletta, and is run by a manager employed after an internal call. The administrative staff will be increased in the coming months.

The newspaper was also wrong about remuneration, which has increased from a retainer of €2,329 per year to €5,329 last year and €6,000 this year. Contrary to the Times of Malta report, the retainer fee nearly trebled, the ministry said.