Justice Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici said he was satisfied that the process to appoint a new Maltese judge on the European Court of Human Rights was finally concluded.

He congratulated Chief Justice Vincent de Gaetano on his election and thanked him for helping restore public trust in the judicial system.

The Chief Justice was app-ointed in 2002, taking over from disgraced Chief Justice Noel Arrigo who was accused of receiving a bribe and subsequently convicted and jailed.

Dr de Gaetano will be taking over from Justice Giovanni Bonello, who had being asked to stay on since 2006 pending the selection of a suitable candidate.

Since then, the government had been trying to persuade the European selection committee to choose one of the three male judges it had nominated, however, the ECHR was adamant a female had to be nominated for the sake of gender equality. Eventually, the government included Madame Justice Abigail Lofaro among its three nominees.

Dr Mifsud Bonnici wished Dr de Gaetano success in his future role.

He is expected to take up office within three months.