MLA

The Malta Law Academy (MLA) is a Foundation of the Chamber of Advocates set up in September 2013 with the following aims:

  • For the advancement of legal and related studies;
  • To help educate the legal and other professions in legal and related studies and to keep the legal profession updated, from time to time, about legal developments in various fields in order to equip lawyers with the necessary tools in order to be in the position to offer the optimal legal services to their clients;
  • To publish books, journals, magazines, newsletters and other material on various legal subjects;
  • To organise conferences, seminars, courses, symposia, conventions and for a on various legal and related topics;
  • To generate, collect and disseminate information on all matters connected with the purposes of the Foundation.
  • To encourage volunteers to participate in the implementation of its projects;
  • To raise money through sponsorships, endowments, donations and fund-raising activities to fund its projects; and
  • To carry out such activities as may be ancillary to the above or as may be necessary or desirable to achieve the above purposes.

The Malta Law Academy was set up as a social purpose foundation and registered as a voluntary and non-profit making organisation which is independent and autonomous of the Government of Malta.

A Board of five Administrators is responsible for determining the policies of the Foundation and deciding on projects, programmes, initiatives or activities. It is assisted by an Advisory Board responsible for the long term view of the Foundation, and whose purpose it is to recommend projects and functions to be concluded and objectives to be achieved during the following year.

The Advisory Board is made up of the following:

George Hyzler
President - Chamber of Advocates
George has occupied the post of President of the Chamber of Advocates since 2015 He is also currently Chair of the Board of Governors of the Malta Arbitration Centre, Member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, Member of the Commission for the Administration of Justice, Member of the Judicial Appointments Committee and Non-Resident High Commissioner of Malta to South Africa. George graduated Doctor of Laws from the University of Malta in 1979 and obtained a Diploma in European Integration from the University of Amsterdam in 1980. George is a former Member of Parliament (1995 -2003) and served as Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry for Economic Services, responsible mainly for competition, consumer protection, intellectual property, and standardisation. He is credited with having set up structures to support and promote Malta’s film industry. He acts as legal counsel to a number of local and international firms operating in Malta inter alia in the fields of property development, transport, immigration and insurance.
george.hyzler@gvzh.com.mt
Reuben Balzan
reuben@vallettalegal.com
Kris Borg
Kris Borg graduated Doctor of Laws from the University of Malta in 1993 and thereafter pursued post graduate studies at the University of Oxford where he graduated as Magister Juris in European and Comparative Law. Following his studies he returned to Malta and for the past twenty three years he has been in private practice dealing mainly with corporate, commercial and civil law. He is a regular litigator before the Maltese Courts and in this respect has also handled a number of cases involving Maltese Company Law. He is also an accredited arbitrator at the Malta Arbitration Centre, and for the past twenty three years he has been a lecturer and an examiner at the University of Malta. He presently lectures commercial and corporate law .
kris@krisborg.com
Richard Camilleri
Dr Richard Camilleri is a partner in the law firm Mamo TCV Advocates and a senior lecturer in the Commercial Law Department of the Faculty of Laws at the University of Malta. Dr. Camilleri graduated Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) from the University of Malta in 1979 and Master of Laws (LL.M.) from the University of London (University College) in 1980. He was admitted to the Maltese bar in 1980 and has been practising law since then. Over the years he has practised in several areas of Commercial Law. One of his principal areas of practice is Competition Law. He has been lecturing at the University of Malta since 1989 and has lectured on Competition Law ever since the coming into force of the Maltese Competition Act in 1995. He also served as Chairman of the Industrial Tribunal between 1987 and 1992 .
Richard.Camilleri@mamotcv.com
David Fabri
David Fabri LL.D., Ph.D. heads the Department of Commercial Law at the University of Malta and co-ordinates the Masters programme in Financial Services. His main areas of interest and research are regulation, financial services legislation, consumer policy and protection, corporate law, whistle-blowing, and business ethics; subjects on which he has lectured and written extensively since 1994, both locally and abroad. He currently services on the University Research Ethics Committee, the Administrative Review Tribunal and the Financial Services Tribunal.
david.fabri@um.edu.mt
Ann Fenech
Ann Fenech is the Managing Partner of Fenech & Fenech Advocates - Malta. She qualified in 1986 and joined Holman Fenwick and Willan in London. In 1991 she moved from there to Chaffe, McCall, Phillips Toler and Sarpy in New Orleans. In 1992 she joined Fenech & Fenech Advocates setting up the Marine Litigation Department. She was appointed Managing Partner in June 2008. She has extensive experience in disputes ranging from ship building contracts to immediate casualty response in collisions having acted and advised some of the most important international maritime operators. She has been responsible for the drafting of a number of laws related to the maritime sector including the Pilotage Regulations and the sections on Jurisdiction in Rem in the Code of Organisation and Civil Procedure. She lectures extensively on the subject in Malta and abroad; she is the President of the Malta Maritime Law Association. In October 2010 she was appointed an Executive Board Member of the European Maritime Law Organisation. In 2012, 2014 and 2015 she was awarded Best in Shipping Law at the European Women in Business Awards held in London. In October 2013 she was appointed Honorary Patron of the Malta Law Academy and in June 2014 was elected on the Executive Council of the Comite Maritime International – the international organisation responsible for drafting the vast majority of international maritime conventions. She was also appointed Chairman of the international working group on ship finance security practices. In October 2015 she was appointed on the Malta Maritime Forum Board of Directors and in April 2016 she was also appointed to represent the Malta Maritime Law Association on the board of the government agency Malta Marittima. In September 2017 she was elected to serve a second term on the Executive Council of the Comite Maritime International.
ann.fenech@fenlex.com
Stefano Filletti
B.A., LL.D. (Melit), LL.M. (IMLI) (distinction), M.Jur (Oxon) (distinction), Ph.D. (Melit) Stefano Filletti, a practising lawyer, is the Head of Department and resident lecturer in Criminal Law at the University of Malta. He also heads the Maltese delegation to the Council of Europe in the European Committee on Crime Problems (CDPC). He holds a B.A. in Legal Studies and a Doctor of Laws (LL.D) degree from the University of Malta, and a Master’s degree (LL.M- IMLI) with distinction from the International Maritime Law Institute (IMO). As a Chevening scholar, he read law at the University of Oxford where he was awarded a Master of Law degree (M. Juris) with distinction. He was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy Degree (Ph.D.) in European Criminal Law from the University of Malta .
Neville Gatt
Neville Gatt is a graduate in law from the University of Malta (1993), Neville furthered his studies at the University of London (1994) where he read Legal Aspects of International Finance, International Tax & European Tax Legislation and the European Internal Market. He joined PricewaterhouseCoopers in 1994 and was seconded to the firm’s International Tax Services Group at the London office in 1998. After his return to Malta, he was admitted to the partnership in 2002. Throughout his career Neville has been actively engaged in advising companies and groups on a variety of complex corporate and tax issues across different industries. He has also been active in making various proposals for reform in the fields of tax and company law. Furthermore, since 1995, Neville lectures in International Tax Law, European Tax Law and in Company Law at the University of Malta and has addressed various seminars and conferences on these subjects both locally and overseas
Neville.Gatt@mt.pwc.com
Antonio Ghio
antonio.ghio@fenlex.com
Robert Thake
Robert Thake holds a Doctor of Laws degree and a Masters of Arts in Laws degree from the University of Malta. He was admitted to the Bar in 2014 and began practicing at Thake Desira Advocates that same year, primarily in the fields of family and civil litigation. Shortly after, Robert became a member of the Chamber of Advocates (Malta) and a committee member as of 2015. He is also a casual visiting lecturer within the Civil Law Department of the University of Malta. Robert is an avid collector of Melitensia and is a member of a number of bibliographical societies including The Bibliographical Society of London, The Oxford Bibliographical Society and The Grolier Club of New York. He is also the author of two books: A Publishing History of a Prohibited Best-Seller (2016) and Patriotism, Deception and Censorship (2013).
rthake@thakedesira.com

 

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