Maltese government nominates three candidates for European Court of Human Rights

The government has nominated three candidates to replace Judge Vincent de Gaetano at the European Court of Human Rights, the Justice Ministry said in a statement.

De Gaetano's term comes to an end in September. The government has nominated lawyer Victoria Buttigieg, and judges Abigail Lofaro and Lorraine Schembri Orland to replace him.

The Justice Ministry said the three candidates had been selected following a public call. 

It said that, on the basis of these nominations, the process will now start by the entities concerned, in line with the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and a number of resolutions of the European Council’s Committee of Ministers, for a Maltese judge to be appointed to sit on the court.

The candidate that accumulates an absolute majority of votes by the members of the Council of Europe's parliamentary assembly would be declared elected as the Maltese judge to sit on the court.

The ministry thanked de Gaetano for his service at the court.