By turning against the State in defence of Yorgen Fenech, the Chamber of Lawyers has extended its long tradition of placing itself on the wrong side of history. In the early 20th century, the legal-caste in Malta was one of the most parasitic sections of Maltese society.
After Independence, lawyers in Malta largely failed to lead the fight for civil liberties, juridical rights, or the rule of law. There is no meaningful record in our history of the legal profession collectively standing up for civil rights when it mattered. Now, the Chamber has continued that tradition by turning against the State in defence of Yorgen Fenech, and doing so on the basis of false and dishonest claims.
There has also been a great deal of historical revisionism designed to justify the parasitic behaviour of the lawyer-caste in pre-Independence Malta. The biggest lie is that they were supposedly fighting for some abstract form of sovereignty by defending the use of Italian in the courts.
This is false. The use of Italian in the courts had little to do with sovereignty. It was a mechanism of control over the Maltese working class. It allowed lawyers to dominate legal proceedings while their clients remained completely oblivious to what was being said and done in their own cases. This gave lawyers enormous power to manipulate their clients however they saw fit.
Many lawyers, led by Enrico Mizzi, took this power play even further and became active supporters of fascism and fascist Italy.
When the Labour Party grew into a political force, and when the first real openings for social mobility appeared, Malta saw the rise of the working-class lawyer. The legal profession began to change and became more politically diverse. Now, Peter Fenech is dragging the clock backwards by once again turning the legal profession into a reactionary force.
There is a lot that can be said about Peter Fenech. He is unprincipled, amoral, and has benefited from different governments. He appears willing to turn in whichever direction is financially profitable for him. The man is spineless, mercenary, and opportunistic. He has revived every negative historical connotation associated with Malta’s legal caste.
This is not a defence of the rule of law. It is opportunism dressed up as constitutional principle. It is the old lawyer-caste reasserting itself: self-serving, reactionary, and always ready to defend their own interests at the expense of collective society.
Website Editor
Historian and Publisher
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