Ena Cremona graduated at the end of a course of laws studded with judicial and political prima donnas, among whom featured two prime ministers, a president of the republic, various ministers, a Chief Justice, together with other judges, international and domestic, magistrates, professors, ambassadors – the 1958 Establishment, to abuse a phrase compulsory in todays’ vocabulary.

Ena was the only woman in her law course, and that perhaps accounts for her compulsion to assert herself. She almost always scored highest in the law exams, Eddie Fenech Adami a close contender, with all the others more or less left-behinds.
As the very first woman litigation lawyer in the history of Malta (preceded only by one pioneer office practitioner) she retained, if not fortified, an admirable and daunting fighting spirit. Invariably ethically correct, never uncourteous, she was a formidable, relentless opponent anybody would want on their side, rather than on the other. Like several later women lawyers after her, she was as much a Rottweiler in her profession, as she was gentle, considerate and caring in her social interactions.

Life treated Ena anyway but even-handedly. She had a stellar legal career, reaching the higher rungs of the judiciary of the European Union. Although academically extravagantly gifted, she rarely felt the need to commit her learning, wisdom, and knowledge to writing. Unwaveringly principled, no one will ever be able to pinpoint a single instance when she negotiated or came to terms with what she considered her moral, ethical, social and political imperatives.

(Written by Judge Giovanni Bonello, 2024)

We send our deepest condolences to the Cremona family for their loss.