The European Commission has opened an infringement procedure against Malta for what it says is a failure to comply with obligations to recognise the qualifications of legal professionals from other member states.

The commission announced the procedure in a memo published this week, in which it said that Malta is not in compliance with its obligations under two directives, the one on lawyers and the directive on the recognition of professional qualifications.

The two directives should allow lawyers to practise law in a member state other than the one in which they obtained their qualifications and establishes a general system for the recognition of professional qualifications across the European Union.

“The commission considers that Maltese laws on the recognition of professional titles and professional qualifications for lawyers – with the systematic imposition of the Maltese bar exam – do not comply with the two directives,” it said.

“In addition, the commission is also addressing Malta’s lack of automatic recognition of the professional title of lawyer issued in another member state when the European Union lawyer wants to establish as a legal procurator.”

While lawyers from other member states who wish to practise here can perform a limited number of functions as legal professionals, they must pass the Maltese bar exam in order to practise fully integrated into the court system.

This runs the gamut from sending a registered letter and signing an affidavit to representing someone in court.

Last year, the government passed a new law to regulate the legal profession dubbed the Lawyers Act.

However, this was criticised as being focused on satisfying Moneyval requirements rather than seriously reforming issues within the profession that need to be addressed.

The Chamber of Advocates said that the version of the bill that made it into law was “watered down” and “not fit for purpose” while the law student association Għaqda Studenti tal-Liġi called for a new “stand-alone” act to regulate the legal profession.

Malta now has two months to respond to the arguments put forward by the commission, otherwise, the European Union institution may decide to escalate the action.