Hon Judge Joanne Vella Cuschieri, Judge of the Superior Courts of Malta and Vice-Chair of the Judicial Studies Committee of Malta, has been a pioneering figure in Malta’s judiciary. In her interview, she shares her journey from a working-class background to becoming a role model for young women aspiring to enter the legal profession.   

This interview series, launched in connection with the International Day of the Girl Child, highlights some of the inspiring women leaders within our Network.  

Joanne Vella Cuschieri, as a judge in Malta, you serve as a role model for young women aspiring to enter the legal profession. What inspired you to pursue a career in law?  

Coming from a working class family, no one in my family had ever aspired to or attended University and that is probably the thing that mostly encouraged me to go beyond my family’s expectations and keep trying to achieve the goal of entering the law course at the University of Malta.  

The decision to take up law rather than any other profession was definitely influenced by the fact that I was a girl with four male siblings and a society wherein girls where expected to grow up, get married and stop working to raise kids.  I wanted to fight for equal rights and equal opportunities for women and the law course could help me to achieve this goal.    

While strides in promoting gender equality are made, challenges still exist. How do you think the judicial systems can further support the entry of young women into legal roles, and why do you think this is important?  

Although at face value, the situation in Malta is that at this point there are more members of the judiciary that are women than men (this applying also to the number of lawyers graduating from University), the reality is that it is much harder for women to manage both a professional life and family life in the society we live in.   

The majority of Maltese society still believes that it is a women’s job to take care of the children and to tend to all the family needs within the house. Most men wake up and go to work without having to worry about what to do with the children because the wife takes care of these things while the wife, no matter what profession or job she holds, has to worry about the children before attending to her job.  Thus, as far as Malta is concerned, I believe that judicial systems should offer more family-friendly measures in order to make it easier for women to attend their legal profession while assuring that their children are well taken care of.   

The European Judicial Training Network fosters collaboration and training across Europe. In your view, how do EJTN’s initiatives contribute to building a more inclusive and diverse judiciary, especially for women pursuing careers in law?  

Throughout the years that I have been colloborating with EJTN as Vice-Chair of the Judicial Studies Committee of Malta, I never felt treated any less than any other gender. Training is offered equally to both men and women, and the trainers are also equally mixed. Currently EJTN also has its first-ever female Secretary General, who I feel is doing an excellent job and is a role model for many.  

However, when it comes to promoting the training with our members of the judiciary, for trainings abroad it is often easier to send a male member than a female member of the judiciary for the simple reason that the woman will need to first see if they manage to find alternative care for their children. Online trainings help solve some of these problems but differences still remain. 

And what advice would you give to young women and girls, in Malta or in Europe, who aspire to have a career in law? 

Let no one stop you from achieving your dreams. Women are as capable as men, if not more, since women are often naturally inclined to multitask more than men.  

Never give up and do not let others influence your decision to pursue a career in law. If a career in law is what you aspire for in life, let nothing and no-one come between you and your dream. Once you achieve it, everything else will fall into place no matter how hard and impossible it may seem at the beginning.   

For more information on our Member, the Judicial Studies Committee in Malta, you can visit their website.