‘The time has come for Malta to have jurywomen’

Women only started serving as jurors in 1972, more than a century after trial by jury was introduced in Malta. Although it was a Labour administration that lifted the ban, the reasons behind it were spelt out in a Cabinet memorandum by Nationalist justice minister Tommaso Caruana Demajo in 1965. This forms part of the Cabinet papers released by the government and found at the National Archives. Dr Caruana Demajo had urged ministers to consider allowing women, married or not, to join the jury service on a voluntary basis. His recommendation was never taken up by the Borg Olivier... This article is part of our premium content. Full story is available on Times of Malta Premium.