The “Street Lawyer” non-profit association always stands by the least. Indeed they were 2691 people were assisted free of charge throughout Italy. 1,334 lawyers and volunteers engaged daily in 60 Italian cities. A value of legal work made available free of charge to the least amounted to 1.8 million of Euro. These are some of the data contained in Social report 2023 of Street Lawyer, which was presented publicly during theNational Assembly which was held in Rimini today, Saturday 18 May.
“Right to residence, family law, expulsion orders, protection of people who are victims of violence and aggression, paradoxical fines and immigration law – underlines the president Antonio Mumolo – The activities of our volunteers involved the most disparate practices. This year too, unfortunately, the most discussed topic was that of registered residence. For over twenty years we have reiterated in every court, and on every occasion, that the right to registered residence must be guaranteed to everyone because otherwise people cannot get treatment, cannot have documents, cannot find work or receive a pension. Yet, even today, this right is not guaranteed, e.g in 2023, as many as 727 people needed a lawyer to fight for them to obtain residency“.
Hundreds of procedures to process: “Those of administrative law they were 145: many of these concern fines given to people who did nothing wrong other than sleep or eat in the street, who begged for alms or traveled on public transport without a ticket. Instead, those of migrant rights (residence permits, international protection, expulsion and citizenship decrees) – continues Mumolo – have been 679a clear increase compared to the previous year, when they had been 532. The practices of criminal law instead they were 150. The statistically most frequent crimes in the criminal field were those against property or against the person, of which homeless individuals may have been perpetrators or, in most cases, victims: yes, because even if it is something that is never considered, those who live on the streets are unprotected and are often beaten and robbed.”
We need laws that also protect the least fortunate: “In addition to fighting in the courts in recent years we have fought for the introduction of laws that make even the last rights already established usable and that give dignity to people: among these is the law proposal which wants to guarantee the right to health even to those who live on the streets. For now we have managed to get it approved in four regions, but we hope that it will soon be approved at a national level as well. In the meantime – concludes Mumolo – we will continue to invest passion and energy in defense of our clients. Because as our motto says, “There are no lost causes.”.
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