Council of Europe ‘ridiculous’ to insist on woman candidate
Chief Justice Emeritus Giuseppe Mifsud Bonnici says Human Rights court saga was delayed by Council’s intransigence.
Gerald Fenech Chief Justice Emeritus Giuseppe Mifsud Bonnici has declared that the government was “correct in resisting the Council of Europe’s ridiculous insistence on a woman candidate for the post.”
Last week, the nomination of a female candidate for the position of judge on the European Court of Human Rights came to an end when Judge Abigail Lofaro was presented as one of three candidates for the post.
The other candidates are Chief Justice Vincent Degaetano, and Judge Joseph Filletti.
“The process took an unusually long time due to the fact that the Council of Europe continued on its ridiculous insistence for a woman candidate to be included in the list of nominees,” Mifsud Bonnici said.
“Government was absolutely right to resist such intransigence on the CoE’s part and even went to court to contest this uncompromising stance, with the courts ruling in its favour. However, government eventually had no other option but to nominate a woman candidate in its shortlist and this will hopefully see this longstanding issue resolved.”
The nomination of Lofaro as an ECHR candidate, after years of resistance by the government to put forward the three original candidates – all men – brought about mixed reactions.
Lawyer and MaltaToday columnist Anna Mallia said she was unaware of any interview selection process and candidates for the post, some 14 in all, were not informed if their application was being considered.
“There was no connection to the fact that no woman was nominated to the position of European Court of Human Rights judge. My view on this is that the candidates who were previously proposed for the position were not satisfactory as they apparently had various judgments which supported the government and went against ECHR case law and precedent,” she said.
Another lawyer, Dr Ramona Frendo, insisted that in such appointments “gender was not an issue but the nominations should be made according to competence.”
She questioned if the Council of Europe’s policy of positive gender discrimination was a formal one. “If government knew that this was the case, we dragged our feet unnecessarily.”
The outgoing Maltese judge at the ECHR, Dr Giovanni Bonello, chose not to comment on the government’s decision not to put forward a female candidate for the post.
A comment was also sought from the Prime Minister’s wife Catherine Gonzi, who was asked whether she felt the resistance to put forward a female candidate had been a waste of time. A spokesperson said Gonzi “does not get involved in government matters.”
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