The Minister for Justice Jonathan Attard presented the warrants to 104 lawyers and 2 new legal procurators after they demonstrated their competence to exercise the legal profession.
In a ceremony in Berga d’Aragona, Minister Attard congratulated the new lawyers and legal procurators and thanked them for choosing to use their skills and wisdom to enter a profession that will continue to strengthen justice in our country.
“Strengthening justice in our country is the aspect that unites us all. In a time where for you who are here you will be entering a new and important step, in the sector in which we are entering unprecedented reforms are being made,” stressed Minister Attard while listing a number of reforms that the government is working on.
In the intervention, the minister explained what led to the unacceptable and unnecessary delay in the process of granting the warrant. He announced that the ministry will be submitting legal amendments which, among others, establish a fair term for when the fit and proper process will be carried out by the Committee of Lawyers and Legal Procurators, an unblocking mechanism in case there is no agreement on the guidelines and the questionnaire linked to the process and even amendments that clarify the process and the procedure.
“We cannot accept a situation where a person who aspires to practice the profession of lawyer or legal procurator goes through an unacceptable situation that these professionals found themselves in”, repeated Minister Attard while appealing to the new professionals not to be defiled by those in the profession for whom complacency is the order of the day and resist any change with the excuse that things have been done that way for a long time.
The ceremony was also addressed by Chief Justice Mark Chetcuti, Dr Peter Fenech on behalf of the Chamber of Advocates and PL Gerald Bonello on behalf of the Chamber of Legal Procurators. Present for this ceremony were also the Attorney General Dr. Victoria Buttigieg, the Permanent Secretary Johan Galea, the administration of the Court Services Agency, as well as representatives of the Bar Association.
