If it’s not a scandal involving property dealings, then it’s a questionable appointment.

This government is in the news for the wrong reasons every day. Just when you think that there could be no other way in which the government could humiliate itself, something else comes up which puts it into an even deeper hole.

The news that two women have been nominated for the post of magistrate – both of whom, according to the dean of the faculty of law, are currently ineligible for the post – is on everyone’s lips.

The Labour government has once again put its foot in it. Announcing the appointment of a magistrate when the person is not eligible for the post is a gross mistake that will have its repercussions, both from a political standpoint as well as on the judiciary as a whole. Announcing an appointment and then referring the matter to the Commission for the Administration of Justice means that the whole Cabinet – which, we were told, is the best we’ve had in history – did not do its homework well before it gave its blessing.

The people’s trust in the administration of justice has hit various lows in the past years. And it’s not only because judges have been sentenced to prison for the crime they committed. It’s also because the more time passes and the more we speak of reforms, the more the perception grows that our system is not efficient.

The latest incident could only serve to enhance this lack of trust.

The statement issued by the Chamber of Advocates on this issue – and it uses a mild term when it says “controversial”, although I am sure it wanted to use stronger adjectives – is a desperate attempt for the government to see sense. But, as the chamber itself said in its conclusion, such mistakes are not easy to recover from and whatever action is taken “cannot in any way repair the damage done”.

That the government has put aside recommendations on the way new judges and magistrates are to be appointed – recommendations made by a commission it set up for the purpose – is even more serious. Why appoint such commissions and boast about the report they compile, and then simply ignore what they say?

From the political angle, the government stands to lose more and more ground. Since Labour took over Castille, it has been a constant wave of appointments that go against the pledge that Labour made before the election – that they would all be based on meritocracy.

In this particular case, however, it is not only the credentials of the two nominees that have raised questions.

It is the utter disregard to the constitution and the law that stands out in this current mess. That two persons are nominated as magistrates – irrespective of their capabilities – when they are not eligible is a complete affront to the rules. If it is not a direct sign of disrespect, then it is yet another example of amateurism.

Or perhaps it’s both.

Whatever it is, the government has taken a political blow.