Application for Registration to Practise the Legal Profession in Malta under the Home-Country Professional Title
EU (Non-Maltese) Legal Professionals wishing to practice their legal profession in Malta will be required to register with the local competent authority. Such registration will entitle them to practise under their home country professional title.
Successful applicants will be able to lawfully practice their legal profession in Malta under their home-country title as evidenced by the respective Certificate of Registration.
Eligibility
According to Directive 98/5/EC the applicant must be authorised to pursue his/her professional activities under one of the professional titles listed in Article 1.
Furthermore, applicants must also provide the following:
- Copy of birth certificate;
- Copy of the Certificate or Warrant to practise the legal profession in the EU country in which it has been registered including legal title;
- Copy of identification document or passport;
- Copy of qualifications;
- Document confirming that the applicant has been duly registered with the competent authority of the home-country Member State;
- Certificate of Good Standing from the competent authority in the home-country;
- Certificate of Conduct (issued not earlier than one (1) month from the date of application) by the competent authority in Malta or the competent authority of the home Member State as applicable.
There are no specific requirements with respect to knowledge of specific languages.
How to apply
Fill in the online form and submit.
For every application for the issue of a Certificate of Registration to practise the legal profession as prescribed by the provisions of the Mutual Recognition of Qualifications Act, the Director General for Justice shall impose a fee of one hundred euro (€100) as processing charge and other ancillary expenses related to the application. Such fee shall be payable on application and shall not be refundable if the application is not accepted. (L.N. 146 of 2015 – Fees for Applications for the Mutual Recognition of Qualifications for Advocates Regulations, 2015, Article 2).
The designated authority shall consider an application as soon as it is reasonably practicable, and shall notify the applicant of its decision together with the reasons upon which it is based provided that such consideration shall be limited to a verification of the applicant’s qualifications. A remedy for the applicant shall be available against such decision before the Mutual Recognition of Qualifications Appeals Board established under article 7 of the Mutual Recognition of Qualifications Act. (Mutual Recognition of Qualifications of Legal Profession Regulations, Article 11).
Timelines
Submission of Application to Vetting of Application – 10 days
Vetting of Application to Request Information from Applicant – 20 days
Request Information from Applicant to Recommendation of Application – 20 days
Recommendation of Application to Delivery of Service – 3 months
English – Department of Justice
14, Market Street
Floriana FRN1082
Malta
info.justicedepartment@gov.mt
Applicants wishing to gain full integration in the legal profession in Malta (i.e. applying for a local warrant) which would entitle them to practise their profession in the Courts of Justice, should (following registration) proceed with the second step in the process by filling another application for inclusion into the legal profession of Malta.
To be eligible, an applicant should have practised law in Malta for a period of at least three years, including experience in Maltese law. Information on such practice, including a letter of practice from the employer/referee should be annexed to the application form. When filling in such a form, the applicant should provide details of his/her employer(s) and the dates of practice.
S/he should also provide an evaluation report on the equivalence of his/her legal qualifications, a copy of his/her identity document/passport and a certificate of good conduct.
Subsequent to submitting his/her application, the EU legal professional would be invited to attend an interview in order to assess his/her competence to be allowed to enter in the process leading to the award of a local warrant, in which case s/he is included in the examination process leading to the award of such warrant.
The above-indicated forms (both for registration and for applying for a local warrant) can be obtained from and should be returned to the Justice Unit within the Ministry for Justice, Culture and Local Government.
Applications should be sent to:
Department of Justice
Ministry for Justice, Equality and Governance
Auberge D’Aragon,
Misrah Indipendenza,
Valletta VLT 1521, Malta
Tel.+35622957350 ; E-mail: info.justicedepartment@gov.mt
Website: departmentofjustice.gov.mt; justiceservices.gov.mt
Qualifications
The Malta Qualifications Recognition Information Centre is the competent body that recognises qualifications through the Malta Qualifications Framework . It provides recognition and comparability of both academic and vocational qualifications; more information may be found on the website http://www.ncfhe.org.mt/content/home-malta-qualifications-recognition-information-centre/52002817/
- Legal Notice 273 of 2002, as amended by Legal Notices 55, 170 and 248 of 2004 – Mutual Recognition of Qualifications of Legal Profession Regulations.
- Council Directive 77/249/EEC of 22 March 1977 to facilitate the effective exercise by lawyers of freedom to provide services.
- Directive 98/5/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 1998 to facilitate practice of the profession of a lawyer on a permanent basis in a Member State other than that in which the qualification is obtained.
