Some 100 lawyers whose professional warrants were caught in the crosshairs of a disagreement between authorities will be able to progress using the previous evaluation system, the Justice Ministry announced on Saturday. 

This comes after law student organisations raised the alarm over a ‘fit and proper’ test, which requires law graduates to disclose past and present physical and mental health issues in the process of acquiring a warrant.

In a press release, the Justice Ministry said that the Committee for Advocates and Legal Procurators would be facilitating the awarding of warrants for around 100 candidates who seek to become lawyers and legal procurators using the same system that had previously been in use. 

This means that candidates who have passed their warrant exam as well the committee’s scrutiny will be able to join the profession posthaste. 

Justice Minister Jonathan Attard welcomed the decision in light of the fact that the new guidelines for what constitutes a fit and proper candidate are yet to be approved. 

Previously, the graduates were caught in a waiting game on the status of their warrants as the Minister and the Committee were at an impasse on a test meant to be undertaken by warrant candidates to determine whether they are fit to be warranted to practice law. 

However, certain questions on the test required candidates to disclose mental health conditions, addiction issues, physical disabilities and other health conditions spanning a 10-year period.

The test guidelines are drafted by the Committee for Advocates and Legal Procurators, which is a committee within the Commission for the Administration for Justice, within the Justice Ministry.

The committee passes on the guidelines to the minister, who has the power to approve them.

However, Attard has expressed that he has reservations about some of the questions and did not want them to be conducted in a way that may unfairly label or disadvantage valid candidates. 

The Minister has said that he has reviewed the guidelines and sent them back with amendments, awaiting the next draft from the committee. 

In Saturday’s press release the Ministry said that this development did not signal that discussions between the concerned parties on the matter had been concluded. 

“The Justice Ministry will continue to work towards reaching an agreement about these guidelines that determine worthy candidates, with the aim of strengthening the legal profession but without them being too invasive into candidates’ personal lives.”