An Għaqda Studenti Tal-Liġi Policy Paper
one year, and be examined and approved by two judges.321 Bill 181 of 2020 seeks to amend this framework by granting the Committee for Advocates and Legal Procurators, the ability to issue warrants.322 This is by giving the Committee the authority to determine whether the aspiring advocate is “fit and proper”. This is similar to what other jurisdictions refer to as a ‘character and fitness’ examination, where a hearing may be scheduled if there is some doubt as to the character of the applicant.
PRATTIKA The system of pupillage, or prattika as it is more commonly known, is a professional apprenticeship that is required by people looking to obtain their warrant. It is a way by which students are introduced to the procedural aspects of the law. It offers exposure to different fields of law, and an opportunity to be passively involved with clients and in the courtroom by attending the office of a practising advocate and sittings before the Superior Courts of Malta. It is the first time law students get a taste of what it is really like to be an advocate, and is therefore a priceless piece of legal education. Prattika must be undertaken for at least a year in order to be able to sit for the warrant exam. The 2012 bill provided for, inter alia, a register of trainee lawyers as well as certain requirements for those advocates offering training, however this has not been adopted in the new 2020 bill.323 It is also possible for trainee lawyers to complete their period of prattika in two six-month periods, in order to gain exposure in different 321 Code of Organisation and Civil Procedure Article 81. 322 An Act to amend legislation regulated the legal profession. (n 27) Article 6. 323 An act to regulate the Legal Profession and to provide for matters connected with, and ancillary thereto. 2012 [123 of 2012]; An Act to amend legislation regulated the legal profession. (n 27). 99
