Lawyer Yana Micallef Stafrace was sworn in as magistrate at a ceremony at the Palace in Valletta today.

During the ceremony President Marie Louise Coleiro Preca drew on Dr Micallef Stafrace’s experience on issues related to domestic violence, saying the judiciary needed to be sensitive to this.

Dr Micallef Stafrace has been chairwoman of the Domestic Violence Commission since May 2013.

The president augured that Dr Micallef Stafrace would be sensitive to the issues facing women in the courts, something she hoped the entire judiciary was.

The new magistrate is the daughter of prominent lawyer Joe Micallef Stafrace, who served for four months as a minister in 1971 before a falling out with then prime minister Dom Mintoff.

Her brothers Simon and Kirill were Labour candidates for the general election and the European Parliament election respectively but she was never involved in politics.

She has been practicing law since 1987.
During the swearing in ceremony Chief Justice Silvio Camilleri said Dr Micallef Stafrace had extensive experience and he was sure she would be an exemplary member of the judiciary.
 
She said she was humbled by the nomination and thanked her family for its continuous support. 

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