Lorraine Schembri Orland (June 21, 1959)CV PACE, p.11
/ref> is a Maltese judge at the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...

Biography

Schembri Orland obtained a doctorate of laws in 1981, and a ''magister juris'' in European Law in 1996, both from the

University of Malta The University of Malta (, UM, formerly UOM) is a higher education institution in Malta. It offers undergraduate bachelor's degrees, postgraduate master's degrees and postgraduate doctorates. It is a member of the European University Association, ...

. From 1988 to 1990, she served as elected member to the Executive Board of the

International Council of Women The International Council of Women (ICW) is a women's organization working across national boundaries for the common cause of advocating women's rights, human rights for women. In March and April 1888, women leaders came together in Washington D.C ...

(ICW). She took part from 1991 to 1993 in drafting legislative and constitutional reforms to eliminate gender-based discrimination from the laws of Malta in view of the country's accession to the

CEDAW The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) is an international treaty adopted in 1979 by the United Nations General Assembly. Described as an international bill of rights for women, it was instituted ...

convention. She also held positions with the European Council of Women, Malta's National Consultative Committee on Bioethics, as well as the San Blas Drug Rehabilitation Centre set up by

Caritas Malta Caritas Malta is a not-for-profit social welfare organisation in Malta. It is a service of the Catholic Church in Malta and a member of both Caritas Europa and Caritas Internationalis. History Caritas Malta was formally founded in 1968 at the ...

. Appointed Judge in 2012 by Malta's prime minister

Lawrence Gonzi Lawrence Gonzi (born 1 July 1953) is a Maltese politician, retired Nationalist politician and lawyer, who served for twenty-five years in various critical roles in Maltese politics. Gonzi was Prime Minister of Malta from 2004 to 2013, and lead ...

, she presided over the Civil Court in regards of matter of fundamental human rights as well as of probate, minority, interdiction and incapacitation, guardianships, trusts, foundations and cross border successions. Justice Schembri Orland was the presiding judge in a number of Maltese landmark cases, such as in ''X vs Attorney General and Commissioner of Police'' in which she ruled that Malta breached the positive obligations under Art. 3 ECHR & Art. 36 of the Constitution (

inhuman or degrading treatment Cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment (CIDT) is treatment of persons which is contrary to human rights or dignity, but is not classified as torture. It is forbidden by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 3 of the European Convention ...

) and Art. 8 ECHR (right to family and private life) due to the systematic failures in the procedures adopted by the police investigating and prosecuting incidences of domestic violence. In ''Marie Therese Cuschieri vs Attorney General'', Malta's Constitutional Court, also presided by Schembri Orland, ruled that legal requirement dictating that women need to give details on their marital status in deeds of property sales was deemed to be discriminatory and unconstitutional. In July 2019, Schembri Orland ruled that the right to

freedom of expression Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The rights, right to freedom of expression has been r ...

of the Caruana Galizia family were being breached by the governmental removal of banners in private spaces. In September 2019, she was sworn in as Malta's judge at the European Court of Human Rights in

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

, the first woman to hold such position. Schembri Orland was preferred by the

Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is the parliamentary arm of the Council of Europe, a 46-nation international organisation dedicated to upholding human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The Assembly is made up of ...

over the other two candidates from Malta, Victoria Buttigieg and Abigail Lofaro.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Orland, Lorraine Living people 21st-century Maltese judges Maltese women 21st-century women judges 1959 births

Biography

See also

References