New magistrate to be appointed in coming days - Owen Bonnici

A new magistrate will be appointed in the coming days, Justice Minister Owen Bonnici said this evening when moving the debate on the Bill to reform judicial appointments. Although he did not mention Caroline Farrugia Frendo by name, the minister said that not many lawyers were willing to serve on the judiciary and that was why it hurt when certain people who wanted to serve were bullied "because of who their father was or for other reasons". Dr Farrugia Frendo, the Speaker's daughter, was nominated under the current system and the minister had already said, when he presented the Bill to the media that he wouldstill carry on with her appointment. Questions had been raised about her eligibility because when she was nominated she did not yet meet the statutory seven years’ experience required by the Constitution to qualify to be named for the post. The Bill, Dr Bonnici said would be giving the justice sector a reform that only came once in one or two generations. He promised to work for consensus on the Bill to be achieved saying it should be above partisan politics. Dr Bonnici said he had already held meetings and listened to proposals and would continue to do so. The Bill, he...