Martina Caruana

Dr Martina Caruana is a practising lawyer and legal advisor working across Malta, Vienna, and Milan, with a practice centred on commercial law, family and private client disputes, and international fashion and art law. She completed her undergraduate and doctoral studies in law in Malta before pursuing advanced legal and leadership training in Cambridge, UK. Bringing a global and interdisciplinary perspective to her academic work, Martina lectures in International Business Transactions, Fashion & Art Law, and Dispute Resolution, where she integrates doctrinal analysis with cultural jurisprudence and the historical evolution of creative and commercial systems. She also serves as a Commissioner for Oaths.

Her UK professional formation broadened further in London, where she undertook targeted instruction in strategic networking with Oli Barrett, creativity and innovation with Fredrik Härén, and organisational culture with Jamie Oliver. She also completed PwC London’s bespoke programme in advocacy, persuasive communication, and legal debate and negotiation. These interdisciplinary foundations shape her distinctive ability to bridge legal doctrine, regulatory architecture, and institutional leadership – allowing her to navigate complex, globally oriented environments with a blend of technical acuity, cultural fluency, and strategic insight.

A significant part of Martina’s work is dedicated to the legal architecture of the fashion and art industries. She maintains a robust international practice in fashion and art law, advising designers, luxury houses, emerging brands, cultural institutions, artists, creative-tech ventures, and investors on the regulatory, transactional, and governance frameworks that underpin global creative economies. Her counsel extends to cross-border commercial structuring, intellectual property architecture and licensing, ESG and sustainability compliance, cultural heritage governance, labour and environmental due-diligence, supply-chain transparency, and the negotiation of complex transnational commercial agreements. She frequently assists creative-sector enterprises in designing governance systems aligned with emerging EU regulatory instruments. Drawing on her knowledge of fashion history, material culture, and the socio-economic forces that shape global creative industries, Martina views fashion as both a cultural system and a commercial organism. In this context, she understands the law as the normative and ethical infrastructure that ensures transparency, accountability, and rights-compliance across creative and cultural value chains.

At the core of Martina’s legal practice is a disputes-led family and private client practice, underpinned by strong expertise in contractual negotiation, settlement structuring, and enforcement. Martina advises and acts in custody, care and access arrangements, separation and divorce, adoption, and complex multi-jurisdictional family disputes, including cases involving international relocation, heightened conflict dynamics, and the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments and protective measures. She is particularly experienced in matters where family breakdown intersects with substantial assets, corporate interests, or cross-border structures, and regularly negotiates comprehensive separation and settlement agreements involving businesses, shareholdings, trusts, succession planning, and intergenerational asset structures. Her approach ensures that private client settlements are commercially sound, legally enforceable, and sustainable over time, both domestically and internationally.

In parallel, Martina maintains a commercial law and contracts practice, with a strong focus on dispute resolution and settlement negotiations arising from international business transactions. She advises on and negotiates commercial settlement agreements involving cross-border trade, supply-chain disputes, contractual non-performance, distribution arrangements, and governance breakdowns, with particular expertise in international sale of goods frameworks and Incoterms. Her commercial settlements are informed by a precise understanding of risk allocation, delivery obligations, liability exposure, and regulatory compliance, enabling clients to resolve disputes efficiently while protecting long-term commercial interests.

Martina’s professional foundations include formative work at KPMG, where she developed expertise in commercial law, contractual structuring, succession planning, corporate governance, and organisational continuity – competencies that continue to inform her commercial advisory and litigation practice. This background complements her work with family enterprises, cultural organisations, and creative-sector companies, particularly in matters involving contract negotiation and enforcement, intergenerational governance, shareholder and ownership transition, and long-term strategic structuring.

Martina is also passionate about women’s health and healthcare-related disputes, including reproductive health law, medical ethics, consent and capacity, medical negligence affecting women’s health, and regulatory frameworks governing access to healthcare and reproductive services. She has extensive experience in cases involving gender-based and domestic violence, sexual assault, coercive control, and reproductive harm. Her work in this area is grounded in a trauma-informed, survivor-centred litigation and settlement strategy, combining rigorous legal analysis with psychological awareness, multidisciplinary safeguarding, and careful evidentiary management. She regularly collaborates with medical professionals, psychologists, support services, and cross-border experts to secure effective protection, enforceable settlements, and durable legal remedies.

Her international engagement also encompasses participation in and leadership of global capacity-building initiatives, including Google’s #IAmRemarkable programme, as well as mentorship within a leadership accelerator for Māori and Pasifika aspiring lawyers organised by the New Zealand’s Ministry of Education. These efforts reflect her commitment to culturally responsive legal empowerment, equitable access to leadership pathways, and the development of inclusive professional ecosystems.

Her contributions to legal reform, community advancement, and international dialogue have been recognised through several distinctions, including the Queen’s Young Leader Medal, awarded by Queen Elizabeth II in acknowledgment of her dedication to justice, dignity, and societal impact. She was also honoured by JCI as the TOYP Winner for Political, Legal and/or Governmental Affairs in 2022, and previously received the organisation’s Humanitarian Award in 2017 – both distinctions highlighting her alignment with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals for 2030, particularly those promoting justice, strong institutions, gender equality, and reduced inequalities.