 |
Victoria Buttigieg | |
|---|---|
| Attorney-General of Malta | |
| Assumed office September 2020 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 28 November 1976 |
| Alma mater | University of Malta |
| Website | https://attorneygeneral.mt/the-attorney-general/ |
Victoria Buttigieg (born 28 November 1976 in Malta) is a Maltese lawyer. Since 2020 she serves as Attorney General of Malta.
Buttigieg studied Law at the University of Malta, where she earned her bachelor's degree in 1998. She received her Doctor of Laws (Dr. iur.) from the same university in 2001. In 2002, she was admitted to the bar in Malta. That same year, she joined the Maltese Ministry of Infrastructure. In 2007, she became a lawyer at the Maltese Attorney General's office, and in 2010, she was promoted to senior lawyer. In 2012, Buttigieg became Deputy Attorney General, heading the departments of Civil Law, Administrative Law, and Constitutional Law. [1]
In 2019, she was one of the Maltese candidates in the election to succeed Vincent De Gaetano, a judge retiring at the European Court of Human Rights, but lost the election to Lorraine Schembri Orland. [2]
In 2019, Buttigieg was appointed Malta's first State Attorney. In this role, she advised and represented the government on civil, administrative, and constitutional matters, a function previously performed by the department she headed at the attorney general's office. [3]
On 9 September 2020, Buttigieg was appointed attorney general, the first woman to serve in the role. [4]
In the following years, Buttigieg has come under increasing pressure to resign following several legal missteps, such as cases falling apart and rulings considered too lenient - lastly concerning the negligent handling of the Vitals hospitals concession court cases. However, Buttigieg could count on the support of Justice Minister Jonathan Attard who kept expressing confidence in her performance. [5]
