Chamber of Advocates calls for moderation in public criticism of lawyers

The Chamber of Advocates urges people to show restraint in publicly criticising lawyers and expressed disappointment at repeated efforts to influence or condition lawyers by publicly and consistently commenting on them in a negative and humiliating way

The Chamber of Advocates has called for moderation in public criticism of lawyers and expressed disappointment at what it said were repeated attempts aimed at “influencing or conditioning a lawyer in the performance of his duties, by consistently and persistently commenting publicly and in the media in an adverse and almost humiliating way.” 

Although the Chamber stopped short of identifying the attacks or lawyer it was referring to – declining to expand further when asked – the statement is understood to be a reaction to recent Facebook posts and publications by Repubblika president Robert Aquilina, who this morning likened the courtroom behaviour of Attorney General Victoria Buttigieg and State Advocate Chris Soler to their ‘North Korean counterparts’.

The comments were made in the context of Repubblika’s case, attacking the Attorney General’s order not to prosecute high-ranking Pilatus Bank officials, despite charges having been recommended by a magisterial inquiry.

Before this morning’s sitting had to be postponed for reasons unconnected to either party, Aquilina had announced he would be exhibiting evidence that would incriminate “the persons who Victoria Buttigieg and Angelo Gafa are protecting.”

But Aquilina then went on to write that: “Soler is defending Victoria Buttigieg. From the way they behave, together they look like the Attorney General and the State Advocate of North Korea.”

It is this comment which appears to have drawn the ire of the Chamber of Advocates, which stressed that lawyers should not be conflated with their clients or their clients’ actions. “...It is the duty of the lawyer towards his client to do everything that is legitimate and within the parameters of professional ethics to promote his client’s case… the lawyer must never and under no circumstances be associated with his client – or be the subject of attacks on his person or professionalism simply because he is performing his duties.”

State Advocate Chris Soler
State Advocate Chris Soler

The Chamber slammed the practice of “persistently commenting publicly and in the media in an adverse and almost humiliating way, on the operation of particular lawyers, in a way that is precisely intended to condition the lawyer from exercising his independent judgement; and this is even more so when the person making such comments is the counterparty in a particular case.”

It explained that it was obvious, in an adversarial justice system, that the counterparty will disagree with what the opposing counsel will have to say to defend his client’s case. “It is a matter of maturity that one understands and appreciates that in an adversarial system in a judicial forum, this confrontation is inevitable, but that this should not lead to personalisation or intimidation or to ridicule the lawyer for doing his job. The role of the lawyers on both sides is that of participating in the full process to achieve justice and this without being embarrassed with what their client allegedly did or publicly ridiculed simply because they did their duty.”

The Chamber said this applied no less to the State Advocate. “It is clear that when a lawyer, including the State Advocate, as a professional, makes his arguments before the courts, it does not mean that those are his personal arguments, but they are the arguments of his client.”

Replying to the Chamber’s statement in a subsequent Facebook post, Aquilina said that State Advocate Chris Soler “is well aware of how he behaved during the closed sittings, out of sight of journalists.”

Praising Soler’s “usual respectful and elegant manners,” he wrote that the State Advocate “must not expect me and my colleagues to allow him, his colleagues and his clients to steamroll over us… For Chris Soler to avoid looking bad, he only needs to do one thing: act correctly. He must seek the interests of justice and work with an attitude respectful of democracy and transparency.”

Aquilina urged the State Advocate not to allow himself to be used as an obstacle to the course of justice, adding that it was “not too late to go back to the Dr.Soler that I know.” 

Aquilina pledged to continue to speak out and criticise Soler and whoever he felt it was necessary to criticise. “This is not an abuse, but a duty. This is democracy.”