A meeting of the Commission for the Administration of Justice has been called for Monday but there is no sign yet it will discuss the nomination of Caroline Farrugia Frendo as a magistrate.

The controversial issue has not so far been included on the meeting’s agenda, Times of Malta can confirm.

The commission had been asked to discuss another nomination, of lawyer Ingrid Zammit Young, and declared there may be a constitutional obstacle to her appointment because she had occupied a public post, following which she withdrew.

In the case of Dr Farrugia Frendo, who is the daughter of the Speaker of the House of Representatives Anġlu Farrugia, serious doubts have been raised over whether her stint as a court attorney can be included in the obligatory seven-year period that one must spend as a practising lawyer before being appointed to the bench.

President Marie Louise Coleiro Preca, who presides over the meetings of the commission – which is the watchdog of the judiciary – has so far refrained from pronouncing herself on the issue.

Asked by the Times of Malta yesterday whether, as guardian of the Constitution, she felt she should refer the issue to the commission, Ms Coleiro Preca did not reply.

Justice Minister Owen Bonnici has rejected the suggestion, saying he has no doubt that the lawyer’s appointment is in line with the Constitution.

However, several have disagreed with this stand, among others the Nationalist Party, the president of the Chamber of Advocates and two leading constitutional experts: former European Court of Human Rights judge Giovanni Bonello and the dean of the University’s Faculty of Laws, Kevin Aquilina.

They have all called on the government to refer the case to the commission for its advice, in the same way as was done with Dr Zammit Young’s nomination.

Any doubts raised on the eligibility of the nominee should be eliminated, they argue.

Dr Bonello, who authored the government’s blueprint for judicial reform, has warnedthat the government is risking a court challenge to the new magistrate which, if successful, would result in judicial mayhem, since all of her decisions would be nullified.