Four new magistrates named
Lawyers Noel Bartolo, Leonard Caruana, Lara Lanfranco and Elaine Mercieca are to be appointed magistrates, the Office of the President announced on Thursday. It follows a list of nominations for the post sent to the president by the Judicial Appointments Committee. A public call for applications had been issued by the Justice Ministry and 28 applications were received by the committee. Each was evaluated by the committee with a shortlist of suitable candidates sent to the Office of the President with a recommendation for the appointments. The president accepted the unanimous recommendation of the committee. The Office of the President said the other nominees who the committee also considered as worthy for appointment were: Abigail Critien; Ilona Debono, Joseph Gatt, Jean Paul Grech, Maria Karlsson; Elizabeth Quintano, Nadia Helena Vella and Claudio Zammit. Thursday's appointments follow the recent retirement of a magistrate and the appointment of another two to serve as judges. Magistrates Neville Camilleri and Audrey Demicoli and lawyers Christian Falzon Scerri and Ian Spiteri Bailey were appointed judges in April. Soon after their appointment, the government faced...