Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici

Infobox Prime Minister
name =Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici
order =Minister for Justice and Home Affairs
term_start =2008
term_end =present
predecessor =Tonio Borg
successor =
birth_date =Birth date and age|1960|2|17|df=y
birth_place =Floriana
death_date =
death_place =
party =Partit Nazzjonalista
religion = Roman Catholic
spouse = Sandra nee’ Gatt
children = Clement
Anselmo
Gregorio
residence = Xgħajra, Malta

Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici (aka Carm Mifsud Bonnici) (born February 17 1960) is a Maltese politician. He was first elected as a member Member of Parliament in 1998. He was subsequently appointed as Parliamentary Secretary within the Ministry for Justice and Home Affairs in 2003 and confirmed in the same post in 2004. He was promoted as Minister for Justice and Home Affairs after the March 2008 election.

Background, education and family

Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici, the son of former President Ugo Mifsud Bonnici, was born in Floriana, Malta. He was educated at St. Aloysius’ College, Birkirkara, then at De La Salle College in Cospicua and at the University of Malta from where he graduated as Doctor of Laws in 1984.

As lawyer, he practiced in criminal, civil and commercial fields. At present, he is a senior lecturer in Roman Law at the University of Malta. Dr Mifsud Bonnici occupied the post of President of the MKSU as a university student and was active in the Nationalist Party Youth Movement (MZPN) since 1982, occupying different posts in the executive of the said movement.

Bonnici is a distant relative of former Prime Minister Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici. He is married to Sandra nee’ Gatt and they have three children: Clement, Anselmo and Gregorio.

Early political career

He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1998 and 2003 in the interest of the Partit Nazzjonalista (Nationalist Party). In 1998 he was appointed by Parliament as Chairman of Committees and was a permanent member of a number of other Committees such as the Privileges and Laws.

He was a Board Member of the Malta Environment and Planning Authority between October 2001 and March 2003.

Cabinet appointments

In April 2003, he was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry for Justice and Home Affairs.

Following the swearing-in of Lawrence Gonzi as Prime Minister and the subsequent Cabinet reshuffle in March 2004, Mifsud Bonnici was re-confirmed as Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry for Justice and Home Affairs. During this period he drove the implementation of several reforms and introduction of new concepts in the Maltese judicial system.

After the March 2008 general election, Mifsud Bonnici was appointed as Minister for Justice and Home Affairs. His portfolio includes the responsibility for the Courts of Justice, the Attorney General's Office, the Police Corps, Immigration, Airport Security, Correctional Services, Civil Protection and Data Protection.

Literary works

Mifsud Bonnici is the author of three publications ‘Żewg Minuti Flimkien’ (1998), ‘Il-Prinċipji Hemm Jibqgħu’ (2003) and “Sens u Sustanza” (2008).