(Adds government reaction)

Malta’s list of preferred candidates for the appointment of a judge in the European Court has been refused for the second time because it does not include a woman, the Labour Party said.

The party said in a statement that the absence of a woman went against the standard criteria of the European Convention on Human Rights.

It said that several groups within the Council of Europe were insisting that Malta should adhere to the democratic principle of gender balance . The country's argument that it did not have women to nominate because of its size could not be considered valid, they argued.

Labour MP Marie Louise Coleiro Preca said that there were a good number of Maltese women who were competent enough to be nominated for European Court judge, in the same way as there were men.

Many Maltese women were losing opportunities because of the government’s attitude.

Alternattiva Demokratika leader Arnold Cassola in a statement described the government's attitude as shameful , while Mary Anne Zammit, party spokesman for social protection and health, said that the message which the Maltese government was sending out to its European counterparts was that Maltese women were not capable of occupying certain posts.

That this was blatantly untrue was demonstrated by Judge Ina Cremona, a respected Maltese Judge at the European court in Luxembourg, she said.

The Justice Ministry in a reaction said the European Convention on Human Rights in its Article 21, Criteria for Office, says in (1) that judges “shall be of high moral character and must either possess the qualifications required for appointment to high judicial office or be jurisconsults of recognised competence.”

In its first list in 2004 the Maltese government submitted the names of: Judge Giovanni Bonello himself, Mr Justice Joseph Filletti and Mr Justice Joe David Camilleri.

In 2006 the government issued a public call for applications for the post of judge. From among the applicants, it chose the three most qualified and experienced in human rights and constitutional law, namely, the three judges of the constitutional court, Mr Justice Vincent DeGaetano, Mr Justice Joseph Filletti and Mr Justice Joe David Camilleri.

The Assembly did not consider the list because it did not include a woman.

At the request of Malta, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe asked for an advisory opinion of the European Court of Human Rights. The latter in its judgement of 12 February 2008 fully supported Malta’s position.

“The Maltese government has not received any communication from the European Court for Human Rights suggesting any revision of the decision,” the ministry said.