Questionnaire Malta

III.13 What are the prerequisites for becoming a public prosecutor?

For a person to be appointed as the Attorney General, sect. 96(2) Constitution, such individual must satisfy the criteria necessary for that individual to be appointed as a judge of the Superior Courts. For a person to be so appointed he must have practised either as an advocate or served as a Magistrate or has partly so practised and partly so served for not less than twelve years. The advocates employed by the Office of the Attorney General must first be in possession of a warrant allowing them to serve as advocates and must then have gone through the rigorous selection process as established by the Public Service Commission. Upon making it through such a selection, and eventual posting with the Office of the Attorney General, it is solely at the discretion of the Attorney General to decide who from amongst his legal staff is to be assigned as a public prosecutor.