Justyne Caruana

Justyne Caruana, is a Maltese lawyer and politician, and former Minister for Gozo.[1] She was appointed on 9 June 2017 in the second cabinet of Joseph Muscat and reconfirmed by Robert Abela before resigning one week later on 20 January 2020 and was replaced with Clint Camilleri.[2] After the 11 months breaks of personal issues, she returned and was appointed on 23 November 2020 as the new Minister for Education by Robert Abela.[3][4] She replaced Owen Bonnici who takes over the Ministry of Research and Innovation.[5][6]

Political career

She was first elected to Parliament in 2003 and successively in 2008, 2013 and 2017, always from her native Gozo constituency.  She served as the Parliamentary Secretary for Rights of Persons with Disability and Active Ageing from 2014 to 2017. In Opposition she was Spokesperson for Youth, Culture, Sports, Family, Children and Persons with Disability.

As head of the Maltese Parliament's delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM), she also serves on the gender equality task force and is rapporteur of the first committee on political affairs. Caruana was regional representative of the UK, British Isles and Mediterranean Region on the Steering Committee of the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians and currently represents Malta on its Regional British Isles and Mediterranean Steering Committee. In 2016, Caruana was nominated as Malta's ambassador in the Women in Parliaments Global Forum.

Caruana has travelled widely for study and parliamentary purposes and represented Malta at various ministerial meetings and other high-level international fora.  

She is a member of Social Affairs Committee. Former member of the Public Accounts Family and standing Committee for the Family, which was set up by virtue of a Motion in Parliament which Caruana co-sponsored with another two members of Parliament.

A Lawyer by profession, Caruana specializes in family law, canonical and civil litigation,

In January 2020 she resigned from her position as Minister for Gozo following allegations that her husband Silvio Valletta was involved with alleged Daphne Caruana Galizia murder accomplice Yorgen Fenech.[7]

In November 2020, she was appointed as Minister for Education, replacing Owen Bonnici.

References
  1. Justyne Caruana named as the new Minister for Gozo
  2. "Justyne Caruana resigns after husband's links with Daphne murder suspect exposed". Times of Malta.
  3. "Justyne Caruana's rehabilitation - Kevin Cassar". Times of Malta. Retrieved 2020-11-28.
  4. "A parliament of parasites". theshiftnews.com. Retrieved 2020-11-28.
  5. "Four ministers sworn in to office". Times of Malta. Retrieved 2020-11-28.
  6. "Ministerial change not a symptom of education sector failure - MUT". Times of Malta. Retrieved 2020-11-28.
  7. Diacono, Tim (20 January 2020). "Gozo Minister Resigns After Her Husband, A Former Police Deputy, Attended Premier League Football Match With Yorgen Fenech". Lovin Malta.


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