How some among the batch of new lawyers see things
Published:
December 6, 2014 at 5:10pm
This poster was stuck to the back of a bus (sorry) ferrying newly graduated lawyers about town. And then there’s the T-shirt. They must have graduated from the Manuel Mallia School of Law.
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Ma tantx nara umorizmu f’daz-zibel.
Min hu zibel?
Gn kien qed jghid ghall-kontenut tal-posters.
Imma jien inzid l-avukati. Fottejtu pajjiz bin-n*jk l’ghandkom.
Guess …
Il-kontenut. M’ghandi xejn kontra ebda professjoni. Forsi ghax nirrispetta l-professjoni tal-avukati daqshekk li narah jistona ma’ poster hekk.
Gieli jkollok aptit tindilek bil-fuel u tiehu n-nar…certu nies ibelhuk bl-intelletwal fqir taghhom, specjalment kif jikkumentaw hawn gew.
Nassumi li mhux wahdi nhoss dan is-sentiment.
Ahjar ghamlu wahda:
Se nsir avukat, u bhal xi hadd…nghatti reat
H P BAXTER : nittama li f hajtek qadt ma gejt , jew tigi bzonn ta avukat. Avukat jkun ta bzonn mhux biss f kaz ta reat izda huwa bzonn f hafna affarijiet ohra , u m hemmx bzonn li tkun kriminal biex ikollok bzonn wiehed. Ghalhekk nittama li qadt ma tigi bzonn dak li tghajjar int “zibel”. Pero fil hajja qadt ma tista tghid x tigi bzonn
G N : iddahhalx politka !!! Pero nghaddi is suggeriment tieghek ghal sena ohra , forsi tiehu gost b dak li tkun ktibt int stess.
Roberta, am I correct in that you are a lawyer or an aspiring lawyer?
If so, I suggest you learn how to write, given that the university has allowed you to graduate despite your being unable to.
Roberta, jigifieri inti kuntenta bil-poster?
Prova ifhem jahasra li m’ghandi xejn kontra l-avukati. Nifhem li tipprova tiggustifka dak il-poster, specjalment jekk int avukata gradwajt din is-sena u ghamiltuh intom.
Il-kontenut li hu hazin. Aghmel distinzjoni, avukatessa.
Min jaf? Xieraq HP Baxxter avukat?
U tixtieqx affarijiet koroh lil haddiehor. Kun prudenti.
Gn: Miniex avukatessa, tista tindirizzani b’ismi. Grazzi.
Tista tghidli fejn f’dak li ghedt jien xtaqt affarijiet hziena lil haddiehor. Nahseb li taf bizzejjed li ma tigix bzonn biss ta avukat biss jekk tikkommetti xi reat jew tkun kriminal, izda tista tigi bzonn ta avukat anka ghal affarijiet ohra.
Nahseb dak li ghandu jkun prudenti u edukat, huwa dak il persuna li jghajjar lil xi hadd jew grupp ta nies ‘zibel’.
Jahasra. Erga ghejd li ghedt lilkom (sry) lill-avukati zibel.
Hu pacenzja erga’ aqra ftit jien xi ktibt bil-mod, forsi tifhima.
The Chamber of Advocates should seriously look into this.
The future defenders of all that is right and just. What a disgrace.
They have! And this should not reflect on all students who are in the law course. Or in the same year for that matter.
Right, now can we please keep them out of politics?
If the most prominent and successful lawyers are those assisting criminals, as these people see it, no wonder these fresh graduates have no problem identifying themselves in such roles.
these were not the LL.D.s,; only the LL.B. graduates. Please DO make a difference between these two. there were no such posters on the LL.D. double decker.
Is the faculty of law accepting the wrong sort of students or is it morphing them all on its own?
Prosit Fakulta tal-Ligi!
1. Everything on that poster is entirely factual.
2. No one was endorsing his actions – just posting what actually happened. Pistorius was accused of killing his wife and he got a minimum penalty – probably because he had a great lawyer.
3. I can’t see the problem to be entirely honest. How is having a factual poster attached to the back of a bus any worse than what goes on on this blog? “The Manuel Mallia School of Law” – really?
4. If it’s the language used I can understand that it might displease certain people, but the buscade consisted of people over the age of 18 who weren’t made to wear the t-shirts or forced to have fun.
[Daphne – No, it’s not the language, Jezebel. It’s the mindset. Every criminal got off the hook ‘by a great lawyer’ is another one released into society. As for that ‘you shot your wife and we got you off the hook’ – well, only a backward man could have written that. Where was the poster that said ‘you raped a child and we made sure you only got 10 months?’ Exactly. It’s savage misogyny of the worst primitive order. You give lawyers a bad name, which is undeserved by many.]
What do you suggest then? That’s our legal system, it’s the way it is for most countries.
[Daphne – I suggest a shred of decency. I suggest that instead of boasting about getting criminals off, you do the normal thing and say: ‘You were unjustly accused and we made sure that you were justly tried.’ THAT is your job – getting persons a fair hearing and a fair trial, not getting criminals off the hook.]
Also, if you think this poster is so damaging to society, you’re not really helping by posting it here.
Honestly, get a sense of humour, I’m sorry you didn’t find it funny, but all the “zibel” future lawyers laughed at it – and are also of the belief that he didn’t get a harsh enough sentence to be honest.
[Daphne – Laughed at it, did they? Well, I hope they’ll still be laughing when their husband shoots them. Honestly, what idiots. And it’s not because you’re young. It’s because you were almost certainly brought up in homes with no discussion about these matters. You will stay exactly the way you are now even when you are my age – my own contemporaries are proof of that.]
There’s so much judgement in your tone – you have no idea the way we were all brought up and you have no idea how old we all are. The youngest people in that course are 21 and the oldest are hitting 60 – some of them might even be older than you!
The poster does not glorify domestic violence, it points out what actually happened. Maybe if we’re all lucky some of these “idiot” future lawyers will affect change in our justice system (even though this all actually happened rather far from our shores).
Jezebel are you the spoksperson for the lot or are you the only rotten apple?
Unfortunately – this Jezebelreasons exactly how most law students/graduates reason.
Many law students feel superior to others as they are made to believe that their course is one of the hardest at university (it isn’t – far from it) and think that they’ll be ruling the world from next week (the truth is most will be carrying briefcases or making coffee for a few years).
The bad taste and arrogance of this poster is symptomatic of all this.
Jezebel, what a suitable nick.
Wasn’t she the biblical royal whore of Jerusalem of the Old Testament?
Jezebel, it is a piece of rubbish. You must have missed out on the basics of what a lawyer is and does. What a lowlife mentality: cheat and win.
“laughed at it”: Jezebel, in English that means “they mocked it” not “found it funny”.
These people are trash – they don’t have to wait for the future to show their true colours.
You say “but all the’zibe’ future lawyers laughed at it – and are also of the belief that he didn’t get a harsh enough sentence to be honest.”
That is such warped reasoning coming from a new lawyer’s mind. If you and your friends seriously thought that he did not get a harsh enough sentence, in other words, “justice was not served”, then how can that be a laughing matter at the same time?
Jezabel’s reasoning is symptomatic of the amorality which has come to afflict parts of the legal profession. A lawyer’s legal and moral duty is to ensure that the accused gets a fair trial and due process, and not to inflict murderers, paedophiles, rapists, corrupt politicians and other criminals back onto society by getting them off the hook and back onto the streets to perpetrate further evil – and generate more legal fees in the process.
@ Lizz
It depends if the interpretation was entirely Elijah’s.
Trust a lawyer to enter into the merits of the case without seeing how the message comes across.
You’ll discuss whether the SS were obeying orders next.
Interesting that “factual” translates girlfriend to wife.
I would have thought that sort of detail was important to a lawyer, even one just starting out.
Actually not everything on that poster is factual. It was his girlfriend not his wife.
I’d hate for you to be my lawyer if you can’t get such a basic fact right.
Imma forsi ‘tfajla’, ‘gharusa’ jew ‘partner’ ma tistax tqabbila ma xi hamallata hux.
It’s disgusting, totally disgusting.
Besides being evidence of a misogynistic and backwards mindset, it simply enhances mistrust in lawyers and certainly most do not deserve that.
In my day, a few years back, our t-shirt was actually funny with a little jibe at fellow students, without insulting or degrading anyone. That is the difference.
You should enjoy your graduation, buscade and all the rest by all means, but the meaning of being professionals seems to be entirely lost.
With professionalism comes also responsibility and you seem to be missing that.
If you are ever at the wrong end of a gun, a fist or a knife, do spare a thought for what a great lawyer your attacker must have had and how fortunate we are not to have invested in the strength and capabilities of a solid prosecution mechanism.
THAT would have been a great slogan.
Actually Pistorius was accused of shooting his girlfriend, not his wife. He already had cases relating to previous use of weapons in public but was still free to have a weapon in his home and kill his girlfriend. Did not the prosecution LAWYERS fail and now a person is dead? Is that funny?
I assume the buscade went around on the streets where there are people of all ages. The only people who I have never heard mentioning this blog are children.
I for one am glad that I got to see what the students think graduating as lawyers is for, it continues to explain why certain institutions are going to the dogs.
No doubt the authors of the slogans will make great criminal lawyers and they will still sleep great at night because their point of view is quite evident.
Absolutely DISGUSTING!!!
The Oscar Pistorius joke is disgusting.
Anyone with a brain in their head (evidently not these graduates, worryingly) could see what a farce that trial was, so I’m not sure what these new lawyers are trying to prove here.
Having come across many of these graduates during my working life I would suggest a new poster be hung on the other side of this bus.
It should read “Jekk twarrab dak li ghalieh studjajna ahna ma niswewx ghal H**RA.”
Avukaza
Instead of driving home the rule of law, the separation of powers and equal treatment for all individuals, they are sending out a message veiled in sexist terms that the law is about what you can get away with.
I knew one need not be particularly bright to become a lawyer in this country (it’s my impression that many younger-generation lawyers have an IQ that is below average) but this attitude confirms it.
Please do not put all of the future lawyers in the same basket. First of all this batch hasn’t even got their doctorate yet, they are just celebrating their Bachelor of Laws and secondly, we also had our buscade this year (notary publics) and although we are future lawyers too, our banners and t-shirts were very tasteful.
[Daphne – Oh dear God. If you are a notary public, then for heaven’s sake learn the plural: NOTARIES PUBLIC.]
Since Joseph Muscat and Hollande have invisible – but existing – ties, I would suggest that Notaries in Malta follow what is going on in France.
The 10th December will see another strike by Notaries and Lawyers.
The strike is against La Loi Macron that would like to see the end of the Notarial profession, calling it useless.
_______
It is not yet known whether there will train strikes happening on that day…..
some people really need to spice up their life with a bit of humour.. I believe that they had fun in the moment that they did the poster and whilst celebrating. Sharing it is really losing the gist of it. Besides, I think they just reflecting in a poster and phrase what everyone says about such profession (in a funny way).. get over it, seriously.
[Daphne – I’m looking for the poster that says ‘You stabbed your wife 50 times while she was lying in bed next to your toddler son, and then poured bleach all over her when she crawled to the balcony to call for help, and I persuaded the jury that it was a crime of passion and so you only got seven years.’ Oh, you didn’t have one? Funny, because that actually happened in Malta around 15 years ago, so you needn’t have gone all the way to South Africa.
I guess they don’t teach lawyers logic anymore, because if they did, you would know that arguments can and should be tested. If there’s nothing wrong with a poster that says ‘You shot your wife and we got you off’ then there’s nothing wrong with a poster that says ‘You raped your eight-year-old daughter and we got you off’. If you judge the latter as bad and the former as acceptable, then what you are saying is that shooting your wife is somehow acceptable in a way that raping your daughter is not.]
All this doesn’t surprise me at all. Unfortunately, many Maltese lawyers have this mentality – and not just the younger ones – starting with the superiority attitude, and ending with their own personal code of ethics and behaviour (yes, I know quite a few and they’re low-lifes).
I’ve observed graduating law students soon to also be married, asking women they’ve just met in bars for threesomes, others screwing anything that breathes and yet others who describe hearing the account of what a paedophile did to 9-year-old victims “interesting”.
The Malta law course always had the reputation for producing not just trashy lawyers but trashy human beings. Sadly, a few of them are..or were members of parliament (and I’m referring to both sides of the House). The fact that this country has been run by this bunch is really, really frightening.
I’m absolutely appalled to have found this on Facebook:
“M’hemmx li jghaddu dawn is snin
M hemmx li nsiru imhallfin ,avukati,magistrati assassini u hallelin
Monopolju assolut, naghmlu flus aktar mill lhud
Kull minn jigi ghal idejna nisolhuh
TAL LIGI, TAL LIGI ……….
QUMUUUUUU… ITS TIME TO MAKE SOME NOISEEEEEE….”
Are these the next-gen lawyers of Malta? I’m disgusted to say the least.
Please do not think that all lawyers have this mindset.
As a newly graduated lawyer myself I find this to be highly disgusting.
Just to set the record straight, and I know that this doesn’t excuse anything, these posters and t-shirts were not of those who graduated from the LL.D. course.
On another note: Thank you and keep up the good work, Daphne.
What’s funny for me us how everyone is finding this offensive and accusing these kids of being immoral and indecent while failing to acknowledge the meaningful truth of the situation.
If you don’t think it is humorous you are the immoral one at failing to recognise the inconceivable facts of this case.
This poster is not celebrating murder as you are all thinking but laughing at a clearly dysfunctional system which has now become a joke.
And what can anyone do really..while you were all accusing these kids of all sorts of things in the hole in your sofa they were having a laugh which unequivocally overrides your own actions.
[Daphne – People in their 20s are not kids. They are adults. At their age I was writing a political column for The Sunday Times while looking after a house and raising three children. And if anybody had called me a kid at any point after I turned 14, I would have been extremely annoyed.]
Oh Daphne now you are losing focus on the essential elements of this discussion, were you maybe proven wrong? I addressed them as kids but as previously mentioned some of them are well over 60 years old so it was just a matter of general identification which has really nothing to do with the point being discussed. Truth is you lot have no idea what you are all talking about and really need to live a day in the shoes of these..fine students ha. No they did not choose their course because they have a tainted mentality and neither did the course make them so. It was the general public that put that sort of reasoning into practice and they were bold enough to identify and express it while doing NOTHING wrong.
Or do you really not know what the job of a lawyer entails? They defend people who have been wronged AND have wronged, or have you never employed a lawyer? People need to stop marveling at the rose without acknowledging the thorns – its the world we live in just open your eyes! They were not in any way involved in the case so do not address them so. They are the ones who will be able to make a change in the future not you and do not tell me that their actions will reflect their words now because they were brought up by immoral families cause that is absolute rubbish.
Becoming a lawyer nowadays has become a status symbol.
It only has to do with titles (doktoor) and money. Integrity does not form part of the equation. It’s a profession that has been going down the dumps for years. I pity the ones that exercise the profession with dignity.
A fresh lot of dottori stronzi.
You should have of seen them on campus. Dictionary definition of uncivilized.
I see nothing wrong whatsoever in either the poster or the T-shirt.
They both fit the mood and the atmosphere of the Big Day splendidly.
Would these statements qualify as “hamallagni”?
This is a rhetorical question. The answer is obvious.
Although I agree with you, please note that the banners and tshirts belong to the LLB graduates, and not the newly graduated lawyers.
I have read it now twice and realised how despicable this Tshirt is. Did any women wear that Tshirt? This is an insult to women worse than the minister’s hymen comment.
We are not amused.
But luckily we are not lawyers.
Is this how new lawyers evaluate their profession? The quality has well and truly dwindled.
Well, it is very clear to see. The background of the majority of these “professionals” leaves a lot to be desired.
It is useless to pose and wear designer clothing, the very nature of the individual will spring up somewhere along the line.
Unfortunately there are quite a number of them around us who have found themselves in positions they cannot handle.
Bad taste? Maybe, but let’s cut them some slack. They are young and feel on top of the world. Reality will set in Monday morning or in coming days, when they can’t find work and need money.
I’m sure Reeva Steencamp’s family would see the humour in this.
This happens every year. I blasted some of them some years ago on the internet for uttering similar, arrogant slogans. They are such d*ck heads at the start of their career, imagine what they’ll turn out to be in 20 years’ time.
Brilliant satirical take on the perceived current pysche of the Maltese legal field.
Call me stupid (or anything else, I don’t mind) but these guys clearly never sought to use their buscade to uphold standards of moral decency. A laugh in these depressing Labour days is welcome.
Just wanted to point out that the buscade was of LLB students not LLD. Meaning that they are not the new lawyers but are halfway through the course and have obtained the bachelors degree.
That said, I agree with you… disgusting attitude which puts other students/lawyers in a bad light.
This kind of totally mistaken mindset, and poor (very poor in fact) sense of humour and low (to avoid writing callous) concept and language, is an insult to some decent and honest lawyers.
When I was at university in the eighties we organised a massive rag day of the traditional Arts versus Sciences type.
Most of the law students hid on the low roofs while the rest of us were vastly outnumbered and bravely withstood a pounding from the better equipped Sciences students.
When we finally admitted defeat we gleefully joined forces with our adversaries, and turned against the law students on the roofs who had abandoned us to save their skin.
Never had revenge tasted so sweet. Seems nothing much has changed about the mindset of some lawyers.
I hope they will find a job, because we have so many lawyers. What do these new lawyers think? Do they think that they are now untouchables?
It is funny, because it is the absurdity of reality. Maybe laughing at these messages will be the start of change rather then the acceptance of the status quo.
Though in all fairness to the recently graduated lawyers, these messages are not meant to be insensitive and insulting to others, and they’re not to be taken seriously.
They don’t mean it. If abortion was legal in Malta and gynae doctors buscaded – I guarantee you there will be an abortion joke, a misogynistic statement or/and a racist one.
Ours had everyone else signing up at ETC and you may think u ejja, how tame (no one died u hekk), but for many graduating, this was a reality not a joke.
When my cousin graduated, she carried on working at a restaurant until she got her masters.
Given that the most recent crop of lawyers have such a rotten attitude, this country will be dragged further into the cesspit.
I hope that the Dean of the Faculty of Law takes cognizance of this and ensures that the law course emphasises ethics above the skills to persuade juries that black is actually white.
“The first step in the evolution of ethics is a sense of solidarity with other human beings.” I sincerely hope these are not among of our future country leaders.
The wording of the posters is vulgar however the message is not wrong.
All lawyers including criminal defence lawyers all over the told have as their main duty the defence of their clients within ethical standards and the law.
Nevertheless I understand that the case of Pistorius is not adept since I believe he should have been found guilty of murder.
Besides law students celebrating their graduation tend to go overboard in their celebrations. The real test for their professional standards is how they are going to act in their hallowed profession.
Both the poster and the Tshirts are distasteful to say the least.
But it should be noted that both the poster and the Tshirts were the LLB graduates doing, and not that of the newly graduated lawyers.
The lawyers in fact wore plain white tops bearing an LLD logo.
Personalment ma nara l-ebda differenza fl-attitudni u l-azzjoni ta’ min qed jigradwa LLB jew LLD…..kollha f’bixkilla wahda, dik tal-imbarazz. Dan id-diskors jew kif qed jikkwalifikawh dawk li wettquh ‘cajt intelligenti’, ma jirriflettix burdata cajtiera ta’ kritika lejn is-sistema gudizzjarja farseska li ghandna, izda attitudni prelevanti tas-socjeta marida li qed nghixu fiha. Dawn il-gradwati huma parti min sistema edukattiva u socjali li ma baqghalha rispett lejn hadd, b’morali laxka u konfuza, filwaqt li fil-parti l-kbira tfittex il-kult personali u pozizzjoni ekonomika komda. Mhux minhabba twemmin religjuz jew politiku, izda minhabba trobbija bla valuri, bosta drabi f’familji b’kopji separati li ghalkemm uhud minnhom ghandhom hafna mezzi materjali, huma nieqsa min rapport uman san u ta’ mhabba. U din il-mentalita’ tinsab b’qawwa kbira fl-universita’ taghna wkoll. Issa nistaqsi jien: jekk f’malta kontemporanja qed nibqaw iccassati b’certi sentenzi li qed jinghataw….kemm aktar niccassaw fil-futur meta jkunu qed jaqtaw is-sentenzi dawn il-gradwanti tal-lum?! Mhux b’kumbinazzjoni li bosta nies (ninkludi lili maghhom), jaraw fl-istess istituzzjoni Gudizzjarja entita’ korrotta li qed timmina s-sewwa u l-gustizzja.