 DISTRIBUTION OF GERMAN ENEMY PROPERTY   [ CAP. 132.      1
CHAPTER 132 
DISTRIBUTION OF GERMAN ENEMY PROPERTY 
ORDINANCE *  
To provide for the collection and realisation of German enemy property
and for the distribution of the proceeds thereof; and for purposes
connected with the matters aforesaid.
(20th April, 1951)
Enacted by ORDINANCE I of 1951, as amended by Ordinance II of
1951; Legal Notice 46 of 1965; Act LVIII of 1974; Legal Notice 148 of
1975; and Act XIII of 1983.
Short title.
Enemy Property Ordinance.
Interpretation.
Amended by: 
II. 1951.2; 
LVIII. 1974.68.
2. (1) In this Ordinance the following expressions have the
meanings hereby respectively assigned to them, that is to say: 
"German enemy debt" means - 
( a ) any sum due at the passing of this Ordinance in respect
of an obligation incurred before the 3rd September,
1939, which on that day was an obligation of any of
the following persons - 
(i) the German State;
(ii) any individual who on that day was a German
national resident in Germany;
(iii) any body of persons (whether corporate or
unincorporate) which on that day was a body
incorporated or constituted in or under the laws
of Germany;
    to any of the following persons -
(iv) the Maltese Imperial Government and the
Government of Malta;
(v) any British subject or British protected person
resident or carrying on business on that day in
Malta;
(vi) any body of persons (whether corporate or
unincorporate) which on that day was a body
incorporated or constituted under the laws in
force in Malta; 
    except that where any person or body of persons
specified in sub-paragraph (v) and (vi) hereof carried
on business on the said day both in and outside Malta,
any sum attributable to the business carried on outside
Malta shall be excluded;
( b ) any sum, not included in paragraph ( a ) hereof, being -
* See  also the Distribution of German Enemy Property Ordinance (Chapter 139).
  2        CAP. 132. ]         DISTRIBUTION OF GERMAN ENEMY PROPERTY
(i) a sum due at the passing of this Ordinance in
respect of any bond of the German External
Loan, 1924, or the German Government
International 5½  per centum  Loan, 1930, being a
bond enfaced in accordance with the
Supplementary Agreement for the execution of
article 2 of the Anglo-German Transfer
Agreement of the 1st July, 1938;
(ii) a sum due on the 7th May, 1945, in respect of
any bond of the Austrian Government
International Loan, 1930, or the Austrian
Government Credit Anstalt Bonds, 1936, being a
bond enfaced as aforesaid;
(iii) a sum due on the 7th May, 1945, in respect of
any bond of the Austrian Government
International Guaranteed Loan 1933-53, or the
Austrian Government Guaranteed Conversion
Loan, 1934-59, which was in the beneficial
ownership of a British holder (within the
meaning of article 4 of the said Anglo-German
Transfer Agreement) on the 1st July, 1938; or
(iv) a sum due at the passing of this Ordinance in
respect of any bond of the Konversionskasse 4
per centum  Sterling Bonds;
"German enemy property" means property which, on such day as
may be appointed by an order made under section 3 of this
Ordinance is, or at any time thereafter becomes, subject to control
under section 8 of the Trading with the Enemy Ordinance, 1939 * ,
being property, or the proceeds or income of property, which on or
at any time after the 3rd September, 1939, belonged to, or was held
or managed on behalf of -
( a ) the German State;
( b ) any individual who, on the said 3rd September, 1939,
or at any time thereafter was a German national
resident in Germany or in any territory under the
sovereignty of a State which on or at any time after the
said day was at war with His Majesty the King;
( c ) any individual who was a German national on or at any
time after the said day and - 
(i) was included among the persons specified in any
order made under subsection (2) of section 3 of
the Trading with the Enemy Ordinance, 1939*,
or
(ii) was a person whose property became subject to
control under section 8 of the said Ordinance at
a time when he was not an enemy within the
meaning of the said Ordinance;
( d ) any body of persons (whether corporate or
*Omitted both in the 1942 Revised Edition and in this Revised Edition since it was
war legislation of a temporary nature.
 DISTRIBUTION OF GERMAN ENEMY PROPERTY   [ CAP. 132.      3
unincorporate) which on or at any time after the said
day was a body incorporated or constituted in or under
the laws of Germany; and
( e ) any body of persons (whether corporate or
unincorporate) which on or at any time after the said
day was controlled by any such individual or body as
is mentioned in paragraph ( b ), paragraph ( c ) or
paragraph ( d ) hereof;
"German national" does not include any person who acquired
German nationality by reason of the inclusion in the German State
after the 1st March, 1938, of any territory not comprised therein on
that day;
"Germany" means territory comprised in the German State on the
1st March, 1938;
"Malta" has the same meaning as is assigned to it in section 124
of the Constitution;
"order" means an order made by the President of Malta and
published in the Government Gazette;
"property" means immovable or movable property, and includes
any estate or interest in immovable or movable property, any
money, any negotiable instrument, debt or other right of action or
incorporeal movable, and any other right or interest whether in
possession or not;
"Trading with the Enemy Ordinance, 1939" means the Trading
with the Enemy Ordinance, 1939 * , as amended by or under any
other Ordinance.
(2) For the purposes of this Ordinance a person who at any time
was resident in Germany shall be deemed to have been a German
national at that time unless it is proved to the satisfaction of the
administrator within such time and in such manner as may be
prescribed by an order made under section 3 of this Ordinance, that
he was not a German national at that time.
(3) For the purposes of this Ordinance, property which or the
right to transfer which, is vested in the Custodian of Enemy
Property appointed under section 8 of the Trading with the Enemy
Ordinance, 1939*, and property which, by virtue of any order made
under the said section 8, cannot be dealt with without the consent of
the President of Malta, shall be deemed to be subject to control
under the said section 8.
Collection, 
realization and 
distribution of 
German enemy 
property.  
Amended by: 
LVIII. 1974.68.
3. (1) The President of Malta may by order make provision
for the collection and realization of German enemy property and
for the distribution of the proceeds thereof, to such extent as may
be prescribed by the order, to persons who establish claims in
respect of German enemy debts.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the preceding
subsection, an order under this section may make provision as to
*Omitted both in the 1942 Revised Edition and in this Revised Edition since it was
war legislation of a temporary nature.
  4        CAP. 132. ]         DISTRIBUTION OF GERMAN ENEMY PROPERTY
the following matters:
( a ) the appointment of an administrator for the purposes
of the order, and the conferring and imposing on that
administrator of such powers and duties as may be
prescribed by the order;
( b ) the transfer and vesting of German enemy property to
and in the administrator; and the discharge of any
person specified in the order from liability in respect
of things done or omitted to be done in relation to
property transferred from him to the administrator;
( c ) the manner and time in which claims in respect of
German enemy debts are to be put forward and the
furnishing and verification of information in
connection with any such claims, including the
production of books and documents;
( d ) the determination, as respects any such claims, of the
question whether the claim is established for the
purposes of the order and of the amount of the claim;
( e ) the distribution from time to time of the proceeds of
the realization of German enemy property to persons
whose claims in respect of German enemy debts have
been established for the purposes of the order;
( f ) the charging of fees to persons making claims in
respect of German enemy debts, and the recovery of
those fees by deduction from the amount to be
distributed as aforesaid or otherwise;
( g ) the disposal of sums in the administrator’s hands
which, by reason of a failure to discover the
whereabouts of persons to whom the sums ought to be
distributed or for any other reason it is not practicable
to distribute;
( h ) the transfer to Her Majesty’s Government in the
United Kingdom of the net surplus, if any, remaining
out of the proceeds of German enemy property after all
accepted claims against the same by creditors in Malta
have been settled.
(3) The administrator appointed under this section shall be
known under the name of Administrator of German Enemy
Property, and is in this Ordinance referred to as "the administrator".
(4) Without prejudice to the generality of the preceding
provisions of this section, an order made under this section may -
( a ) exclude from the application of the order such classes
of claims as may be prescribed by the order;
( b ) differentiate between different classes of claims, as
respects the priority in which payments are to be made
and the extent of the payments;
( c ) make provision for enabling proceeds of German
enemy property which belonged to, or was held or
managed on behalf of, a particular person or body of
 DISTRIBUTION OF GERMAN ENEMY PROPERTY   [ CAP. 132.      5
persons to be distributed to persons establishing claims
in respect of debts due from that person or body.
(5) The President of Malta may by further orders prescribe
forms for the purposes of any order made under this section and in
particular for the making of claims and the furnishing of
information.
(6) Notwithstanding anything in this section, the President of
Malta may give a direction to the administrator requiring him to
transfer to or for the benefit of any person specified in the direction
any German enemy property, or the proceeds of any German enemy
property, to which that person would have been entitled but for the
operation of the Trading with the Enemy Ordinance, 1939 * , or any
order made thereunder, and the administrator shall comply with any
such direction.
(7) Where any German enemy property, on or at any time after
the 3rd September, 1939, belonged to, or was held or managed on
behalf of, a German company, and it appears to the President of
Malta that the company was on the said day controlled directly or
indirectly, by a Maltese company, the President of Malta may treat
that property for the purposes of the last preceding subsection, to
such extent as the President of Malta thinks fit having regard to the
extent of the interest of the Maltese company in the German
company, as property to which the Maltese company would have
been entitled but for the operation of the Trading with the Enemy
Ordinance, 1939*, or any order made thereunder.
  In this subsection, the expression "German company" means a
body incorporated in, or under the laws of, Germany, and the
expression "Maltese company" means a company formed under the
laws of Malta.
Offences. 
Amended by: 
L.N. 46 of 1965; 
LVIII. 1974.68; 
L.N. 148 of 1975; 
XIII. 1983.5; 
VIII. 1990.3.
4. (1) If any person who - 
( a ) is prohibited by or under an order made under the
preceding section from dealing with any German
enemy property otherwise than with the consent of the
administrator, or
( b ) is required by or under such order to transfer German
enemy property to the administrator or otherwise to
deal with that property in accordance with the
directions of the administrator,
contravenes or fails to comply with the prohibition or requirement,
he shall be guilty of an offence under this section.
(2) Any person who - 
( a ) without reasonable excuse, fails to comply with any
requirement made by or under any such order to
furnish information or to produce books or documents,
or
( b ) in giving information for the purpose of any such order
*Omitted both in the 1942 Revised Edition and in this Revised Edition since it was
war legislation of a temporary nature.
  6        CAP. 132. ]         DISTRIBUTION OF GERMAN ENEMY PROPERTY
knowingly or recklessly makes a statement which is
false in a material particular,
shall be guilty of an offence under this section.
(3) Any person who is guilty of an offence under this section
shall be liable - 
( a ) on conviction by the Court of Magistrates sitting as a
court of criminal judicature to a fine ( multa ) not
exceeding one hundred liri or to imprisonment for a
term not exceeding three months or to both such
imprisonment and such fine; or
( b ) on conviction on indictment to a fine ( multa ) not
exceeding five hundred liri or to imprisonment for a
term not exceeding two years or to both such
imprisonment and such fine.
(4) Where any offence under this section has been committed
by a body corporate, every person who at the time of the
commission of the offence was a director, general manager,
secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate, or was
purporting to act in any such capacity, shall be deemed to be guilty
of that offence unless he proves that the offence was committed
without his consent or connivance and that he exercised all such
diligence to prevent the commission of the offence as he ought to
have exercised having regard to the nature of his functions in that
capacity and to all the circumstances.
(5) Before criminal proceedings in respect of an offence under
this section are initiated, the Attorney General may direct - 
( a ) that the proceedings be instituted before a Court of
Magistrates sitting as a court of criminal inquiry, and,
on the record of the inquiry having been sent to the
Attorney General by the said court, the Attorney
General may either file in the Criminal Court an
indictment against the accused person or refer the case
back for trial on the same records by the same Court of
Magistrates sitting as a court of criminal judicature; or
( b ) that the proceedings be instituted before a Court of
Magistrates sitting as a court of criminal judicature;
but at any time in the course of the proceedings before
sentence is passed, he may request that the person
accused be tried on indictment by the Criminal Court
and, on such request being made, the Court of
Magistrates shall continue the proceedings as a court
of criminal inquiry for the trial of the offence charged
by the Criminal Court.
Cap. 9.
(6) Without prejudice to the provisions contained in subsection
(5) of this section, any applicable provision of the Criminal Code
shall apply in respect of offences under this section.
 DISTRIBUTION OF GERMAN ENEMY PROPERTY   [ CAP. 132.      7
Orders.
include a power to revoke or vary any orders made in pursuance of
that power.
