Law graduates in ‘limbo’ over warrant test

Law graduates have expressed their frustration over the fact that they cannot yet practice law despite having passed all requirements after five years of studying.

The problem boils down to a ‘fit and proper’ test, which is required at law but over which there is no agreement between Justice Minister Jonathan Attard and the Commission for the Administration of Justice.

Attard is refusing to approve the test because it is invasive. The issue first arose last year when the Committee for Advocates and Legal Procurators, which falls under the CAJ, put forward the test for the minister’s endorsement.

The minister refused to endorse the test, which included questions about students’ mental and physical health, their disabilities, previous drug or gambling addictions and even where they went to secondary school.

The ministry had said the information requested was excessive and did not respect the dignity and privacy of prospective lawyers.

The test has raised eyebrows among mental health advocates and campaigners for the rights of people with a disability.

In a recent letter to President George Vella, who chairs the CAJ, Attard said that unless the impasse is resolved government will consider amending the law.

Meanwhile, 105 graduates are still waiting to be sworn in as lawyers or legal procurators. Last week, 11 of them also filed court proceedings against the minister, the University of Malta and the CAJ.

MaltaToday reached out to some of these graduates, who while wishing to remain anonymous, expressed their concern.

“We are in a state of limbo, and despite having graduated and achieved all that is required to become lawyers, we are still stuck shadowing warranted lawyers,” one graduate said.

He said the test had been flagged as a possibility for the last two years, even though it was nowhere near completion at the time, and so previous graduates were given their warrants without taking the test. “The delay makes us useless in court.”

When asked about the nature of the questions of the fit and proper test, one graduate said it made more sense for such a test to be done before their law degree, instead of after graduating.

On one of the questions asking prospective lawyers whether they had any disability, the graduate said it made no sense. “Wheelchair users, to cite just one example, should be able to study and practice law,” he said.

Another student described the entire situation as “ridiculous”, saying there was ample time for an agreement to be reached. Instead, she stated that the oral warrant exam had been postponed, and that the graduation ceremonies had also been postponed.

Now, she says, “we have no idea when we will receive our warrants, when we will be sworn in, or whether or not we’re going to sit for the fit and proper test.” Because of this, she added, graduates working in law firms cannot be promoted and get paid as proper lawyers, and many people are missing opportunities because of the situation.

“Our fundamental and Constitutional rights of employment are being breached”, she emphasized.

The graduate also pointed out that the questions in the fit and proper test are not only invasive but have nothing to do with one’s ability to practice law.

The fate of all 105 law graduates is in the hands of the minister and the Commission for the Administration of Justice. Breaking the impasse would either involve the Commission making the necessary amendments to the test, or the government changing the law to bypass the test.