 MONTE DI PIETA  g CAP. 269.         1  
CHAPTER 269 
MONTE DI PIETA ACT
To vest in the Government the assets and functions of the institutions
known as Monte di Pieta and Monte di Redenzione, and to provide for
matters connected therewith or ancillary thereto.
(1st April, 1977) *
Enacted by ACT XXXIX of 1976, as amended by Act XIII of 1983.
Short title.
Interpretation.
"Il-Monti" means the division of the department of Government
known by that name in accordance with section 4 of this Act;
"loan assets" has the meaning assigned to it by section 4 of this
Act;
"Minister" means the Minister responsible for finance;
"Monte di Pieta" means the foundation or institution known by
that name, and includes the foundation or institution known as
Monte di Redenzione, whatever the legal status of these
foundations or institutions and howsoever they may have been set
up;
"prescribed" means prescribed by or under this Act;
"ticket" has the meaning assigned to it by section 5 of this Act;
"transferred assets" has the meaning assigned to it by section 3 of
this Act.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law, or in
any deed, will, contract, instrument or other document whatsoever,
the provisions of this Act shall have effect, and in the event of any
conflict with the provisions of any other law or anything contained
in any deed, will, contract, instrument or other document
whatsoever, the provisions of this Act shall prevail.
Transfer of 
liabilities of Monte 
di Pieta.
3. (1) With effect from the commencement of this Act, all
assets and property, movable and immovable which, immediately
before such commencement, formed part of, or otherwise belonged
to, or was considered or treated as forming part of or otherwise
belonging to, the Monte di Pieta, other than the loan assets, is
transferred to and shall vest in the Government by virtue of this Act
and without further assurance, and, subject to the following
provisions of this section, are so transferred and shall so vest in
absolute ownership free and unencumbered; and the property
transferred as aforesaid is in this Act referred to collectively as
" the transferred assets".
(2) All liabilities which immediately before the commencement
* See  subsection (2) of section 1 of the Act as originally enacted, which subsection has
been omitted under the Statute Law Revision Act, 1980, and Legal Notice 43 of 1977.
  2      CAP. 269. h                MONTE DI PIETA  
of this Act were liabilities of or due by the Monte di Pieta, other
than those mentioned in subsection (4) of this section, shall, with
effect from such commencement, become liabilities of and due by
Government by virtue of this Act, and any payment so due to be
made by the Government shall be a charge on the Consolidated
Fund without further appropriation than this Act.
(3) Without prejudice to any consolidation of the  directum
dominium  with the  utile dominium  happening on the transfer of any
of the transferred assets as provided in subsection (1) of this
section, the provisions of that subsection shall not affect any
emphyteusis or lease granted in respect of any of the transferred
assets or any easement to which any of such assets may be subject,
and any such emphyteusis or lease shall, for all purposes, be
deemed to have been granted by the Government and shall be
treated accordingly.
(4) With effect from the commencement of this Act, any
burthen or charge to which any of the transferred assets may,
immediately before such commencement, be subject, and any other
payment or performance that may, before the date aforesaid, be due
in respect of any such assets, shall, by virtue of this Act, cease to be
such a burthen or charge on, or a payment or performance due in
respect of, any of the transferred assets, and any sum or other thing
or act which but for the provisions of this subsection would have
been due to be paid or made immediately before the
commencement of this Act, shall, as from such commencement, be
due to be paid or made by the Government; and any payment so due
shall be a charge on the Consolidated Fund without any further
appropriation than this Act.
(5) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (4) of this
section, and without prejudice to the extinguishment of any
obligation arising therefrom by way of set-off or in any manner
other than in pursuance of this subsection, the Government may at
any time extinguish any such obligation arising as aforesaid by the
payment of a sum of money corresponding, in the case of an annual
payment, to the capitalization of such annual payment at the rate of
five per cent, and in any other case, to an adequate compensation
for the extinguishment of the relative obligation.
Transfer of loans 
and advances made 
by Monte di Pieta.
4. (1) With effect from the commencement of this Act, all
loans which, immediately before such commencement, were loans
made by the Monte di Pieta, and all rights, claims, obligations and
liabilities, pertaining, relating or ancillary thereto, shall, by virtue
of this Act and without further assurance, be transferred to and vest
in the Government, and shall become loans, rights, claims,
obligations and liabilities of the Government as if the loans and
anything done in relation thereto had been originally made or done
by the Government under this Act; and all such loans, rights,
claims, obligations and liabilities aforesaid are in this Act referred
to collectively as the "loan assets".
(2) With effect from the commencement of this Act, all moneys
which, immediately before such commencement, were held by the
Monte di Pieta on account of owners of pledges sold by auction
 MONTE DI PIETA  g CAP. 269.         3  
before that date, being amounts by which the price of a pledge sold
exceeded the amount due in respect of the relative loan, shall be
held by the Government in place of the Monte di Pieta as if the sale
of the pledge had been made by the Government under this Act:
Provided that the action for the recovery of any such excess
shall be barred by the lapse of ten years beginning with the
commencement of this Act.
(3) The Government shall continue the functions performed by
the Monte di Pieta in respect of the loan assets immediately before
the commencement of this Act; and may thereafter, as the Minister
may decide, continue to lend money against security provided by
the giving of pledges of articles of gold, silver or other precious
metal or of precious stones.
(4) The functions referred to in subsection (3) of this section
shall be performed by such department of Government as the
Minister may from time to time designate for that purpose, and the
division of the department performing those functions shall, in
respect of those functions, be known as "Il-Monti".
Provisions 
concerning loans 
made under this 
Act.
5. (1) The provisions of this section shall have effect with
respect to loans made by the Government under this Act :
( a ) all loans shall be made against the security of a pledge
consisting in articles of gold, silver or other precious
metal or of precious stone, or a combination thereof;
( b ) the acceptance or otherwise of any article offered by
way of pledge as a security for a loan shall be in the
absolute discretion of the Government;
( c ) no article shall be received as a security for a loan
unless and until a ticket has been issued in respect
thereof, and, save as provided in this Act, no such
article shall be returned except against the surrender of
that ticket;
( d ) a loan shall not be made for a specified period, and any
article given in pledge as a security for a loan may be
redeemed at any time by the payment of the amount of
the loan and any interest that may be due thereon;
( e ) all loans shall, unless renewed, be repayable within
three years from the date on which they are made;
Cap. 16.
( f ) the interest payable on any loan shall be five per cent
per annum or such other rate (not being higher than the
maximum allowed by section 1852 of the Civil Code)
as the Minister may from time to time by notice in the
Gazette specify;
( g ) any pledge remaining unredeemed within the aforesaid
period of three years shall be sold by public auction,
and where the price at which the pledge is sold
exceeds the amount due to the Government in respect
of the loan, including all interest due until the price of
the pledge sold is received by the Government, any
such excess shall be paid to the owner of the pledge
  4      CAP. 269. h                MONTE DI PIETA  
against the surrender of any ticket issued with respect
to the loan;
( h ) no interest shall be payable by the Government on any
excess due under paragraph ( g ) of this subsection, and
the action for the recovery of any such excess shall be
barred by the lapse of ten years from the date of the
sale by auction of the pledge to which the excess
relates.
(2) Where a ticket has been lost, destroyed or otherwise
mislaid, any article in respect of which that ticket was issued may
be delivered to a person claiming entitlement thereto only if such
procedure as may be prescribed has been followed within such time
as may be prescribed.
(3) In this Act, the word "ticket" means any document released
on behalf of the Government in evidence that an article has been
delivered as a pledge by way of security of a loan made under this
Act.
(4) Where any article received as a security of a loan under this
Act is delivered in good faith to any person against the surrender of
the relative ticket, or in accordance with the provisions of
subsection (2) of this section, no claim by any person against the
Government or against any person acting on behalf of the
Government, and arising from any delivery as aforesaid, shall be
entertained by any court.
Regulations. 
Amended by: 
XIII.1983.5.
6. The Minister shall have power to make regulations to give
effect to any of the provisions of this Act and, in particular, but
without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, such
regulations may - 
( a ) provide for the management and administration of any
department, or section of a department, of Government
entrusted with the functions referred to in section 4 of
this Act, including provision with respect to the days
and hours during which such a department or section
thereof shall be open to the public;
( b ) modify or put in abeyance, in its application to Il-
Monti, any provision of law regulating the conduct of
financial or administrative matters in government
departments;
( c ) provide for the manner in which a loan under this Act
is to be made, regulate the conditions and the
repayment of any loan so made, the payment of the
interest thereon, and the acceptance, receipt,
withdrawal and sale by auction of articles pledged as a
security therefor;
( d ) establish the minimum and maximum amounts of any
loan made under this Act;
( e ) make provision for the protection of the rightful
owners of articles given as a pledge under this Act in
the event of the loss, destruction or mislaying of the
 MONTE DI PIETA  g CAP. 269.         5  
ticket issued in respect thereof;
( f ) provide for the manner in which unredeemed pledges
may be disposed of and the proceeds thereof dealt
with; 
( g ) provide for the keeping of records for the purposes of
any function exercised under section 4 of this Act, the
period for which such records are to be kept, and the
disposal or destruction thereof on the expiration of
such period;
( h ) provide for any matter authorised or required by this
Act to be prescribed;
( i ) provide for offences in relation to any matter provided
for in this Act or in regulations made under this
section and establish punishments with respect to any
such offence not exceeding a fine ( multa ) of five
hundred liri or imprisonment for a term of six months,
or both such fine and imprisonment;
( j ) provide for and regulate civil liability in relation to
any matter provided for in this Act or in regulations
made under this section.
Regular court 
deposits lodged 
with Monte di 
Pieta before the 
31st December, 
1944.
7. (1) The deposits to which this section applies, (hereinafter
referred to as "the deposits") shall be dealt with and disposed of as
provided in this section.
(2) Subject to any directives which the Minister may give, and
to the other provisions of this section, the deposits shall be sold by
public auction in the same manner as unredeemed pledges may be
sold in accordance with the provision of subsection (1) of section 5
of this Act and of any regulations made under this Act:
Provided that any deposit of trivial or no value shall be
disposed of as the Minister may direct.
(3) The proceeds from the sale of any deposit shall for all
purposes of law take the place of the deposit sold as if it had been
the thing originally deposited, and shall be kept by the Government
indefinitely and shall only be paid to the person or persons
specified in an order issued by a competent court and in accordance
with any such order. No interest shall be payable on any such
proceeds.
(4) The deposits to which this section applies are all regular
court deposits lodged with the Monte di Pieta under any authority
whatsoever on and before the 31st December, 1944, and not
withdrawn therefrom in pursuance of an order issued by a
competent court before the commencement of this Act.
Construction of 
references to 
Monte di Pieta in 
other laws, etc.
8. Wherever in any law or other instrument having the force
of law, or in any deed, contract, instrument, writing or other
document whatsoever, any reference is made to the Monte di Pieta,
and it is necessary or expedient, in consequence of anything
contained in this Act, that such a reference be substituted by a
reference to Il-Monti, that reference shall be so substituted, and any
  6      CAP. 269. h                MONTE DI PIETA  
law, instrument or document as aforesaid shall be construed and
shall have effect accordingly.
