COURT OF SURVEY [ S.L.234.10 1
SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION 234.10
COURT OF SURVEY RULES
13th August, 1974
LEGAL NOTICE 93 of 1974.
Title.
Interpretation.
Cap. 234.
"Chairman" means the person appointed by the Minister to be
Chairman of the Court under article 326(2) of the Act;
"Court" means the Court of Survey constituted under article 326
of the Act;
"Minister" has the same meaning as is assigned to it in the Act;
"registrar" means the person appointed from time to time by the
Minister to be the registrar of the court under article 326(4) of the
Act.
Notice of appeal.
to as "the appellant") desires to appeal to the court, he shall file at
the office of the registrar a notice of appeal in the form appearing
as Form No. 1 in the First Schedule.
Summoning of 
court.
4. (1) Immediately upon the filing of a notice of appeal, the
registrar shall communicate the fact to the Minister and to the
Chairman.
(2) The registrar shall select a person to act as assessor on the
appeal out of the list of assessors approved for the time being by
the Minister under article 315 of the Act.
(3) The Minister, on receiving notice of the appeal, shall
appoint the other assessor, and shall forthwith send the name and
address of such assessor to the registrar.
(4) If the ship to which the appeal refers is a foreign ship, the
registrar shall give notice to the consular officer of the country to
which the ship belongs, if that country has a consular officer in
Malta, that, at the request of the appellant, some competent person
be selected by the consular officer to act as assessor in lieu of the
assessor selected by the registrar under sub-rule (2).
(5) As soon as the registrar has ascertained by whom the
appeal will be heard, he shall summon the court in the form
appearing as Form No. 2 in the First Schedule, and he shall, at the
same time, send notice thereof to the Minister and to the appellant
in the form appearing as Form No. 3 in the said Schedule.
(6) If the survey to which the appeal refers has been made on
the complaint of any person, hereinafter called the complainant, the
Minister shall send to him notice of the time and place appointed
for the hearing.
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(7) Previous to the hearing, the Minister shall forward to the
registrar, to be produced as evidence at the hearing, an official copy
of the report of the surveyor.
(8) The court shall, if practicable, be summoned to hear the
appeal on a day not later than fourteen days from the filing of the
notice of appeal.
Parties to 
proceedings.
5. The Minister and the appellant shall be parties to the
proceedings, and any other person, on entering an appearance, may
by leave of the court be made a party to the proceedings.
Notice to produce 
documents.
6. A party may give to any other party notice in writing to
produce any documents (saving all just exceptions) relating to the
matter in question, and which are in the possession or under the
control of such other party, and, if such notice be not complied
with, secondary evidence of the contents of the said documents
may be given by or on behalf of the party who gave such notice.
Witnesses. 7. Subpoenas to witnesses shall be issued to witnesses by the
court, and such subpoenas shall, as far as practicable, be in the
form used for summoning witnesses before the Court of Appeal for
the hearing of appeals from the Court of Magistrates, Civil
Jurisdiction, and shall be subject to the same rules.
Affidavits, etc. 8. Affidavits and solemn declarations may, by leave of the
court, be used as evidence at the hearing.
Proceedings in 
court.
9. (1) At the hearing, the Minister shall first call his
witnesses, the complainant (if he has appeared) shall then call his
witnesses, and, finally, the appellant shall then call his witnesses.
(2) After the appellant has examined all his witnesses, the
Minister and the complainant may, on cause shown to the
satisfaction of the court, call further witnesses in reply.
(3) After all the witnesses have been examined, the court shall
first hear the appellant, then the complainant (if any), and
afterwards the Minister.
(4) The court may adjourn the hearing from time to time and
from place to place.
(5) The decision of the court may be delivered either  viva voce
or in writing, and it shall not be necessary to hold a sitting merely
for the purpose of giving a decision.
(6) As soon as possible after it has come to its decision, the
court shall issue an order for the release or for the detention (either
absolutely or on condition) of the ship in the form appearing as
Form No. 4 in the First Schedule, and a copy thereof shall be sent
or delivered to the respective parties.
(7) The court shall report to the Minister in the form appearing
as Form No. 5 in the First Schedule.
Damages. 10. The court may, if the parties consent thereto in writing,
decide whether damages are due, and to and from whom, and may
assess the amount thereof.
Service of notice. 11. Any notice, summons or other document issued under these
rules may be served either personally or by sending the same by
COURT OF SURVEY [ S.L.234.10 3
registered letter to the address of the person to be served, and the
service of any notice, summons or other document may be proved
by the oath or affidavit of the person by whom it was served.
Security for costs.
appellant to give security to the satisfaction af the court for costs
which he may become liable to pay.
Fees.
4 shall be fixed by the court and collected on their behalf by the
registrar.
(2) The registrar shall also levy and collect, in the name and on
behalf of the Government, the fees set out in the Second Schedule.
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FIRST SCHEDULE
(Rule 3)
FORM No. 1
Notice of appeal
To the Registrar of the Court of Survey.
I hereby give notice that I .................................. (name and
address), the master (or owner of .................. shares) of the ship
..................................... of the port of .......................... do appeal -
(1) from the report of ................................, the surveyor
appointed by the Minister to survey the said ship.
or (2) from the declaration given by .............................., ship
surveyor OR engineer surveyor OR radio surveyor (OR
from the refusal of .............................., ship surveyor
OR engineer surveyor OR radio surveyor to give a
declaration) under the provisions of article 214 of the
Merchant Shipping Act.
or (3) from the refusal of ............................, surveyor of
ships to give a certificate of clearance, under article
294 of the Merchant Shipping Act, that the said ship is
properly provided with lights and with the means of
making fog signals.
The address at which all notices and documents may be served
by post or otherwise on me is .........................................................
Dated this ............. day of ..............., ................ .
...................................
(Signature of appellant)
COURT OF SURVEY [ S.L.234.10 5
FORM No. 2
Rule 4(5)
Summons to Court
Court of Survey
In the matter of an appeal by ........................... from the report of
.............................. , the surveyor appointed by the Minister to
survey the ........................ (name of ship) (or as the case maybe). 
In pursuance of the Merchant Shipping Act, I hereby summon
you to attend as Chairman (or assessor) on this appeal, at
.......................................... on the ........... day of ........... at the
hour of ................... .
Dated this ................ day of ..................., ............... .
Registrar
I will attend as summoned
................................................
(Signature of person summoned)
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FORM No. 3
Rule 4(5)
Notice of Sitting of Court of Survey
The Court of Survey
In the matter of an appeal by ........................... from the report of
...................................., the surveyor appointed by the Minister to
survey the ............................... (name of ship) (or as the case may
be).
To .............................., the master (OR owner of ............ shares)
of the ship ........................ (name of ship) the appellant (OR the
Minister).
I hereby give you notice that the Court of Survey will meet at
..................... on ............... day of ..............., .............. at the hour
of ................ to hear the appeal in the above matter.
Dated this ................... day of ........................, ............ .
Registrar.
COURT OF SURVEY [ S.L.234.10 7
FORM No. 4
Rule 9(6)
Order of Court for Release or Detention of Ship
The Court of Survey
In the matter of an appeal by ............................ from the report
of ...................................., the surveyor appointed by the Minister
to survey the ................................. (name of ship) (or as the case
may be).
I ........................... do, with the concurrence of ..........................,
order the said ship to be released (OR detained) (absolutely or
conditionally upon ...........................................).
Given under my hand this ................ day of ................, ........... .
Chairman.
We (OR I) concur in the above report.
Assesor.
Assesor.
8 [ S.L.234.10 COURT OF SURVEY
FORM No. 5
Rule 9(7)
Report of Court of Survey
The Court of Survey
In the matter of an appeal by ........................... from the report of
...................................., the surveyor appointed by the Minister to
survey the ............................. (name of ship (or as the case may
be).
I .................................... do report that, having heard this appeal,
I did with the concurrence of ........................................ order the
said ship to be released (OR detained) (absolutely or conditionally
upon ..............................) for the reasons set forth in the annexed
statement.
I am also of opinion that the cost of this appeal should be paid by
............................... (OR that all parties shall pay their own costs).
Dated this .............. day of ........................, .............. .
Chairman.
We (OR I) concur in the above report.
Assessor.
Assessor.
SECOND SCHEDULE
(Rule 13)
Fees of the Court of Survey
On filing of notice of appeal ................................. Lm 15
On entering an appearance .................................... Lm 5
On every copy of the Court’s report, or of any of
the proceedings in the appeal, per 100 words ............
30c
subject to a 
minimum of 
Lm 2.
