Justice Minister Owen Bonnici said yesterday he told officials to look into a Labour media report that a third law student was allowed to practise despite being found guilty of an offence but he had no information so far.
“I took note of the allegation and, so far, I am still awaiting information from my officials. At this point in time, I am not aware of the allegations made by the newspaper although I have asked for the relevant information from the Justice Department,” he said.
Dr Bonnici said, when asked, he had not contacted the newspaper editor directly as he did not normally speak to journalists to seek information.
The Labour Party's weekly, KullĦadd, reported last Sunday that a law student was granted a warrant to practise notwithstanding the fact that he not only had a serious brush with the law but also had a pending case for allegedly assaulting a public officer.
Serious brush with the law
Kulħadd did not name the lawyer saying it did not feel it should tarnish his name and negatively affect his career.
It said this ‘third’ case was more serious than that of the two law students involved in a controversy on whether they qualified for a warrant having been found guilty of theft.
KullĦadd accused the Chamber of Advocates of using two weights and two measures since it did not object for the ‘third’ case.
A spokesman told the Times of Malta that the Chamber of Advocates was not aware of any other student with a criminal record who was given a warrant. Were it made aware of such a case, it would deal with it in the same manner as in the other two cases.
Read: President to grant warrants to two guilty law students
The law lays down that for a person to practise law, s/he must be “of good conduct and good morals”. This led both Chief Justice Emeritus Silvio Camilleri and the Chamber of Advocates to argue that this impeded the two students in question to get a warrant. However, Dr Bonnici disagrees, basing his argument on the fact that the four judges who examined both students had given their green light.
The dean of the Faculty of Laws, Kevin Aquilina, has warned against committing a “serious precedent” by granting the warrant to the two students.
The Association of Maltese Judges and Magistrates is on record saying there is no unanimous consent among the judiciary that the warrants should be issued.