The Justice Minister is remaining silent and the lawyers’ self-regulatory body says it has no information about reports that a law student was awarded a warrant despite having a criminal record.

The Labour Party’s weekly, KullĦadd, reported on Sunday that a law student who was granted a warrant not only had a serious brush with the law but was also facing a pending case in which he allegedly assaulted a public officer.

It did not name the lawyer saying it did not feel it should tarnish his name and negatively affect his career.

The Sunday paper, however, noted that his case was more serious than that of the two law students involved in a controversy on whether they should be given a warrant or not after having been found guilty of theft. The four judges who examined the two students gave the go-ahead for them to practise law but Chief Justice Emeritus Silvio Camilleri and the Chamber of Advocates objected.

Had we had such information, we would deal with it in the same way

The Labour newspaper accused the Chamber of Advocates of two weights and two measures since it did not object to the ‘third’ case. However, when contacted, a spokesman for the lawyer’s body said it had no information about a ‘third’ case. “Had we had such information, we would deal with it in the same way,” the spokesman said.

He also pointed out that the Chamber of Advocates had no competence in the scrutiny of law students, adding that it had acted in the two cases in question after receiving a report on their criminal record.

Justice Minister Owen Bonnici was asked whether he was aware of the case reported by KullĦadd and, if so, what action, if any, was taken but no reply was forthcoming at the time of writing.

Unlike other countries, where lawyers’ warrants are issued by the Chamber of Advocates or similar structures, in Malta the warrant to practise law is issued by the President acting on the advice of the Justice Minister.

Dr Bonnici told this newspaper last week he would grant the warrant to the two students once he had the backing of the four judges who had examined them.

The Chamber of Advocates and the Dean of the Faculty of Laws at the University of Malta criticised this decision, deeming it a “serious precedent”.

President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca said she would sign the warrants insisting that she had to abide by the minster’s advice.

The Association of Maltese Judges and Magistrates made it clear there was no unanimous consent among the judiciary over the granting of the warrants.

ivan.camilleri@timesofmalta.com