The government will nominate lawyer Ramona Frendo to serve as a judge at the Gereral Court of the European Union, the justice ministry said this evening.

Frendo was chosen by a technical board after a public call.

The vacancy arose after Mr Justice Peter G. Xuereb’s term ended. He was subsequently appointed to the European Court of Justice.

A process to approve Dr Frendo’s nomination will now start. If successful, she will serve on the court for a term of six years.

Dr Ramona Frendo’s legal experience spans 22 years’ practice in the Maltese legal system, covering litigation and legal expertise in civil, insurance, industrial, family and criminal law, complemented by consultancy and drafting services to commercial entities and public authorities.

Frendo served as member on the Justice Reform Commission 2013, responsible for acritical and comprehensive analysis of procedural and substantive law, with a view to improving judicial services, both qualitatively and quantitatively.

 She also had practical experience of European Institutions when she served as chair of the Visa Working Party during the Maltese Presidency of the Council in 2017. Working closely with Council Legal Service, Dr Frendo chaired monthly technical meetings of experts from EU Member States and Associated States, brokered an agreement on a Council Mandate to the European Commission to commence Visa Facilitation talks with a third country, negotiated an agreement on a long-outstanding, complex technical and political Decision of the Council, and represented Council in Trilogues with the European Parliament, three of which were concluded successfully.  

Dr Frendo received her academic formation at the University of Malta, the University of Cambridge and most recently, at King’s College London, where she passed with Distinction the Diploma in European Union Law, which comprehensively covered substantive, procedural and jurisprudential EU law, with a focus upon recent CJEU caselaw and practical case-studies.