Who are the five people who have thrown their hat in the ring to become judge at the European court?

Five applicants are vying to become judge at the European Court of Justice’s General Court, MaltaToday is informed.

Lawyers Jacques René Zammit, Edward Zammit Lewis, David Ciliberti, Rashida Sheikh and Veronique Dalli responded to a call for applications issued by the Maltese government.

The outgoing judge is Ramona Frendo, who has been accepted to serve on the European Court of Justice. Frendo had been a judge at the European General Court since 2019.

Every EU member state gets to nominate two judges on the General Court, following an open call for applications. Government’s eventual nominee will still have to be cleared by a panel of legal experts at the ECJ.

A judge at the European Court of Justice interprets and applies EU law to ensure its consistent implementation across member states. They handle cases involving disputes between EU institutions, member states, businesses, and individuals, and provide preliminary rulings when national courts seek clarification on EU law.

Judges also review the legality of acts by EU institutions and can impose penalties for non-compliance, thereby playing a crucial role in maintaining the rule of law within the EU.

The post was thrust under the spotlight after former justice minister Edward Zammit Lewis’ possible nomination as judge was leaked to the press. The leak resulted in civil society NGO Repubblika writing to the European Court of Justice, asking it  to turn down the nomination.

Repubblika president Vicki Cremona told the Article 255 panel that Zammit Lewis’s election as candidate to the European Court of Justice would tarnish the Court’s reputation and compromise its responsibility to be perceived as a bulwark to the rule of law.

She said the former Labour minister was unsuited to the post after it was revealed that he had been in contact with Yorgen Fenech, even when it emerged in press investigations in November 2018 that Fenech was the owner of a Dubai company identified as the source of unlawful payments to the secret Panama companies of Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri.

The government hit back by saying the NGO’s letter was a “thinly veiled” attempt at a personal attack.

Justice Minister Jonathan Attard denied claims by Cremona that there has been no selection process in respect of the nomination of the candidate. An open call for the post was issued in the Government Gazzette of 30 April 2024.

Attard said the selection process is ongoing at national level, and that viva voce interviews of candidates are planned for the coming weeks.

Who are the candidates?

Jacques René Zammit

Zammit is a lawyer and blogger known for his contributions to the online commentary scene in Malta. Creator of the popular blog "J'accuse," he writes about Maltese politics, culture, and society, often with a critical and satirical tone.

Jacques Rene Zammit

A lawyer specialised in EU Law, he graduated with a Masters from the College of Europe. In Malta he was a legal adviser at the Competition Authority during the period of EU accession. He lectured in EU Law at the University of Malta for three years before moving to the Court of Justice as a legal adviser in the Maltese judge’s cabinet. He has worked at the ECJ directly on EU law matters for 20 years, and for the last six has been a Press Attaché concerned with managing the English desk at the Court. He has also guest lectured at the European Research Academy on the subject of Rule of Law in the EU.​

In his student days, Zammit was also secretary-general of the Studenti Demokristjani Maltin (SDM) and president of the University students’ union KSU.

Edward Zammit Lewis

A sitting MP, Edward Zammit Lewis is a lawyer by profession. He was first elected to parliament in 2013 on the Labour Party ticket. Following his election in 2013, he was made parliamentary secretary for competitiveness in former prime minister Joseph Muscat’s first Cabinet.

He has since occupied several ministerial roles, including tourism, European affairs and equality, as well as justice and governance. As justice minister he piloted several constitutional and judicial reforms requested by the Venice Commission.

Edward Zammit Lewis

Since the 2022 general election he has been a backbencher for the Labour government and currently heads parliament’s foreign and European affairs committee.

Zammit Lewis is no stranger to controversy, with leaked Whatsapp chats between him and alleged Daphne Caruana Galizia murder mastermind Yorgen Fenech, revealing a close relationship between the two.

David Ciliberti

David Ciliberti is a legal and policy officer at the European Commission’s DG JUST. As part of his tasks, he has reviewed national laws implementing the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Law Enforcement Directive (LED) and has represented the European Commission before the European Data Protection Board (EDPB), in the financial matters sub-group. He is currently working on the legal revision of the Consumer Credit Directive.

Prior to joining the European Commission, Ciliberti served as a justice and home affairs attaché at the Maltese Representation to the EU. He represented Malta during the negotiations of the GDPR and LED. During the Maltese Presidency of the Council of Ministers in 2017, Ciliberti chaired the Working Party on Information Exchange and Data Protection (DAPIX). Earlier in his career, Ciliberti worked at the European Court of Justice (CJEU).

Veronique Dalli

Veronique Dalli is the founder and managing partner of Dalli Advocates, a law firm specialised in assisting companies and individuals in business related matters with interdisciplinary services. The firm has provided legal services to MaltaToday in its fight against SLAPP and defamation cases.

She was admitted to the Maltese bar in 2006 and has represented clients before the Constitutional Court and the Superior Courts in Malta as well as before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

Veronique Dalli

She has often contributed to the public debate on legal and judicial reforms. Dalli serves as a tutor and examiner at the Faculty of Law, University of Malta, and is also a member of the Electoral Commission.

Dalli is also the sister of Environment Minister Miriam Dalli.

Rashida Sheikh

Rashida Sheikh is a lawyer-linguist with the Maltese language unit at the European Court of Justice. There is little information in the public domain on her career.