Justice Minister Owen Bonnici will be signing the warrants of two lawyers who were discovered to have a criminal record. In parliamentary questions Bonnici confirmed that all Judges and Magistrates had expressed their agreement in favour of granting the lawyers their warrant.

He was responding to a question posed by Nationalist Party MP Karol Aquilina.

It was reported in March that the two lawyers had been allowed to sit for their warrant exam despite having received a conditional discharge after they admitted to fraudulently using a lost credit card.

According to Article 81 of the Code of Organisation and Civil Procedures no person shall be entitled to obtain a warrant unless they are of “good conduct and good morals”. The law does not explicitly define “good conduct” and the Chamber of Advocates and the Association of Judges and Magistrates have given differing views on whether a conditional discharge should disqualify the two lawyers from obtaining a warrant.

Bonnici explained that the law stipulates a conditional charge does not indicate that you are disqualified for receiving a licence of any sort.

“According to the law, it is not the Minister, lawyers or the President that can decide if someone is of good conduct or of good morals but it’s is the Judge’s decision” he stated.

Bonnici stated that after receiving concerns from the Chief Justice and Chamber of Advocates, the minister contacted four judges and magistrates who unanimously agreed that legally they should be granted their warrants. “Eventually all of the Judges and Magistrates told me that they were in favour of these young people receiving their warrant”. He added that he had not invited them to official Ceremony of warrants in order to leave time for reflection.