Judiciary watchdog meets while President stays mum on magistrate nomination

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...