Chamber of Advocates still waiting for lawmakers to regulate the profession

The President of the Chamber of Advocates, Louis De Gabriele, has repeated his call for a law to regulate the legal profession, in a hard-hitting speech marking the opening of the court calendar.

“I was hoping that this would be the year when I could declare that the Bill regulating our profession has been tabled in Parliament. But unfortunately, once again, in spite of promises by the government in this regard, and in spite of an agreement between the parties, this Bill has not yet seen the light of day,” De Gabriele told the assembled judiciary and Justice Minister Owen Bonnici.

De Gabriele highlighted that the chamber had submitted its first draft law 10 years ago, but the Bill still appeared to be “an unattainable summit.”

The environment had changed and the profession had evolved, as well as grown fivefold and the current rules were struggling to regulate the profession, he said. The current system of self-regulation needed to be revised.

He argued that in order to have a strong and competent judicial infrastructure in future, Malta needed a “strong, independent, integral and competent advocacy.”

The need for a law to regulate the legal profession was one of the principal shortcomings flagged by last month’s MoneyVal report, which perceived this a “significant risk” in addition to the fact that Malta did not have “fitness and properness testing,” for the legal profession.

It was the perfect opportunity for the government to face down one of the main criticisms in that report, urged the veteran lawyer, making the point that the proposed Bill actually addressed each one of the deficiencies mentioned in the report.

By implementing this Bill, the government would also be sending out an important signal to the international community that Malta was determined to address the criticism and risks it was facing in the international anti-money laundering framework, De Gabriele said.

“Meanwhile, with more patience, but with perseverance, the legal profession waits.”

De Gabriele also announced that the Chamber of Advocates had launched a consultative paper on the lifting of the strict rules currently preventing members of the legal profession from advertising their services.

This served the interest not only of the lawyer but also of potential clients who shared an interest in selecting the right professional to provide him with legal assistance, De Gabriele said.