The year ahead in 2016: Law
‘We will strengthen controls to avoid ethics breaches’ - Dr George Hyzler, President of the Chamber of Advocates
'In 2016 we will call for less government input when it comes to the appointment of new judges or magistrates, repeating a call I had made in October in my speech at the start of the forensic year.'
The Chamber of Advocates hopes during the New Year to build on the progress made in 2015.
2015 was a good year. We’ve made good progress on various fronts, especially with the Lawyers Act. The bill proposing the Lawyers Act had been presented in parliament by the previous administration but after a great deal of discussion, the Chamber is close to finalising a revised draft, in time for its second reading. It takes time for certain ideas to mature but I think we are all happy with the revised draft. We look forward to it being enacted in 2016.
In 2016 we will call for less government input when it comes to the appointment of new judges or magistrates, repeating a call I had made in October in my speech at the start of the forensic year.
I think we need to have more discussions to understand each other better. We hope for a higher appreciation by the government of the importance that it loosen the hold it has on the appointment of the judiciary.
We have been saying all along that the executive should not be involved in this process, but should act in line with a recruitment procedure which is more open and transparent.
During 2016 the committee will also be working hard to reach out to lawyers who do not work in court, with a strengthened resolve to bring these lawyers closer to the chamber. They may feel less part of the profession for this reason [not practising in court] but lawyers are lawyers, wherever they work. We are bound by the same code of ethics.
We also want to strengthen controls to avoid ethics breaches. We are revising our code of ethics and want to make sure that everybody sticks by the rules, for the benefit of the client and also for the benefit of the profession itself.
Aside from that there is also the small matter of revisiting and updating the Chamber’s statute which also needed to be addressed. A lot of work!
Higher regulation of the profession is undoubtedly a good thing which is why we look forward to the new Lawyers Act to help the chamber modernise the profession, and improve efficiency and controls in line with what is required from a modern, forward-looking profession.
As told to Matthew Agius
