Court attorneys are lawyers, even if they are barred from practising their profession privately, according to law faculty dean Kevin Aquilina.
He argues this in a Talking Point appearing in Times of Malta today in the wake of the controversy surrounding the appointment of Caroline Farrugia Frendo to the Bench.
Doubts were raised over Dr Farrugia Frendo’s eligibility to become a magistrate when some questioned whether the time she spent as a court attorney could be counted as part of the seven years of law practice required by the Constitution.
Prof. Aquilina told the Times of Malta last week this was a “grey area”. He joined former European Court of Human Rights judge Giovanni Bonello and George Hyzler, president of the Chamber of Advocates, in calling on the Justice Minister to seek certainty by referring the matter to the Commission for the Administration of Justice.
However, in his Talking Point today, Prof. Aquilina says the Constitution does not require legal practice to be specifically at the bar and an advocate employed by the State not exercising the profession privately is “indeed” a lawyer.
I’m not going to risk tarnishing the reputation of a lawyer on an opinion that’s incorrect
Interviewed in The Sunday Times of Malta, Justice Minister Owen Bonnici insisted that a court attorney was “beyond doubt a lawyer” and he saw no reason for consulting the Commission for the Administration of Justice.
“I’m not going to risk tarnishing the reputation of a lawyer, or someone who is going to become a magistrate, on an opinion that’s incorrect,” Dr Bonnici said.
A contract of service seen by this newspaper offered by the government to court attorneys makes it clear they are not allowed to carry out private practice of their profession. However, the job description states that court attorneys are assigned to a judge and have to assist in drafting an average of three judgments per week.
Court attorneys can also be tasked to write “memoranda concerning points of fact and points of law” on pending lawsuits and assist the judge in the drafting of court orders.
The contract sets remuneration at scale three of the civil service, which is equivalent to that of the deputy attorney general. Court attorneys are paid €35,583 per annum, apart from other allowances.
In Sunday’s interview, Dr Bonnici described the work of a court attorney as “the exercise of the legal profession in its most intimate and correct interpretation”.