REGISTRATION OF CLUBS ġ S.L.10.21 1
SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION 10.21
REGISTRATION OF CLUBS REGULATIONS
4th October, 1939
GOVERNMENT NOTICE 505 of 1939, as amended by Government
Notice 535 of 1956; and Legal Notices: 148 of 1975 and 69 of 1977.
Title .
Added by:
L.N. 69 of 1977.
1. The title of these Regulations is Registration of Clubs
Regulations.
Interpretation. 
Amended by:
L.N. 69 of 1977.
2. In these Regulations -
( a ) the expression "club" means only any building or part
of a building used by an association of persons for
their common resort;
( b ) the expression "secretary" means any person
performing the duties of secretary or any person who
is declared to be the secretary in the application for
registration of the club and any person responsible for
the management of the club; and
( c ) the expression "annoyance to neighbours" includes
annoyance emanating from the premises of a club or
caused outside or at the approaches to a club, by or in
consequence of any person proceeding to or from the
club, other than a club belonging to a political party.
Registration of 
club.
3. No club shall be opened until it is registered at the office of
the Commissioner of Police.
Application for 
registration.
4. All applications for the registration of a club shall be
forwarded by the secretary of the proposed club to the
Commissioner of Police accompanied by a statement containing the
following particulars: 
( a ) name and object of the club; 
( b ) address of club premises;
( c ) name, surname and place of residence of the secretary;
( d ) rules of the club relating to -
(i) the election of members and the admission of
temporary and honorary members and guests;
(ii) the terms of subscription and entrance fee;
(iii) the cessation of membership; 
(iv) the hours of opening and closing;
(v) the procedure of altering the rules;
(vi) the supply of intoxicants, if any.
Refusal to register 
a club.
Amended by:
G.N. 535 of 1956;
L.N. 69 of 1977.
5. The Commissioner of Police shall not register a club if -
( a ) the club occupies premises which have been used
within the last twelve months immediately preceding
the application for registration, as a wines and spirts
2 ġ S.L.10.21 REGISTRATION OF CLUBS
shop, the licence whereof has been cancelled;
( b ) he has reasons to believe that the club is intended for
the purpose of gambling;
( c ) the number of paying members is less than thirty;
( d ) the total yearly subscription payable by all the
members of the club does not cover the rental value of
the premises;
( e ) in the opinion of the Commissioner of Police, the
proposed name of the club closely resembles or is
likely to cause confusion with the name of another
registered club, or is likely to occasion a breach of
public good order;
( f ) the opening of the club is deemed likely to cause
annoyance to neighbours on grounds which the
Director of Public Works, the Commissioner of Police
and the Chief Government Medical Officer, or their
respective representative, consider to be reasonable.
Delivery of 
certificate.
6. A certificate of registration of the club shall be delivered to
the secretary of every registered club and such certificate shall be
displayed in the premises of the club.
Statement to be 
furnished by 
secretary.
Amended by:
G.N. 535 of 1956.
7. (1) The secretary of every club shall furnish by the 15th
January of each year to the Commissioner of Police a statement
signed by him containing the particulars laid down in regulation 4.
Any alteration made during the year to the particulars above
referred to shall also be communicated to the Commissioner of
Police.
(2) The registered name of a club shall not be changed without
the previous approval in writing of the Commissioner of Police
who may refuse such approval for any of the reasons mentioned in
regulation 4( e ).
Names and 
addresses of 
members.
8. (1) A list containing the names and addresses of all the
members of the club and the record of their latest payment of their
subscription shall be kept on the premises.
(2) A declaration that this regulation has been complied with
shall accompany the statement mentioned in regulation 6.
Closing of club. 
Amended by: 
L.N. 148 of 1975; 
L.N. 69 of 1977.
9. The Commissioner of Police may, with the approval of the
Minister responsible for the Police, order the closing of any club on
any of the following grounds:
( a ) that it is habitually frequented by persons under
eighteen years of age;
( b ) that the number of paying members has been reduced
to less than thirty;
( c ) that it is kept or used for any unlawful purpose or that
it is not generally conducted as a  bona fide  club;
( d ) that it is frequented by persons of bad character or that
frequent cases of drunkenness or excessive gambling
occur on the premises;
REGISTRATION OF CLUBS ġ S.L.10.21 3
( e )  that non-members are habitually admitted to the club
for the purpose of obtaining intoxicating liquor or for
gambling;
( f ) that applicants for membership are admitted to enjoy
the privileges of membership without an interval of at
least two days between their nomination and
admission;
( g ) that conditions which would have impeded the
registration of the club under these Regulations have
supervened since the registration;
( h ) that any restriction imposed by the Commissioner of
Police, in regard to the hours during which the club
may be kept open, has been violated;
( i ) that annoyance to neighbours has been or is to be
caused, on grounds which the Director of Public
Works, the Commissioner of Police and the Chief
Government Medical Officer, or their respective
representative, consider to be reasonable.
Striking off 
register.
10. When a club has been closed down by order of the
Commissioner of Police, it shall be struck off the register and no
club shall be registered on the premises until the lapse of twelve
months from the date of such closing down.
Temporary closure 
of club.
11. It shall be lawful for the Commissioner of Police, for
reasons of public order, to direct at any time the immediate
temporary closing of any club. In the event of any such order being
given by the Commissioner of Police, the persons present in the
club shall leave the premises forthwith, and the club shall not be
reopened except with the permission of the Commissioner of
Police.
Opening hours. 
Added by:
L.N. 69 of 1977.
12. The Commissioner of Police shall have power to restrict,
from time to time, the hours during which a club may be kept open,
if the Director of Public Works, the Commissioner of Police and the
Chief Government Medical Officer, or their respective
representative, shall deem such a measure to be necessary so as to
prevent annoyance to neighbours.
Frequenting of 
club which is not 
registered.
Cap. 10.
13. Any person frequenting a club which is not registered in
accordance with these Regulations or which has been closed down
in virtue of regulation 9, shall be guilty of a contravention in
accordance with article 318 of the Code of Police Laws.
Non-applicability 
of Regulations.
14. These Regulations are not applicable to organizations
which are purely of a religious nature or to juvenile clubs intended
solely for sporting purposes.
Responsibility for 
observance of 
Regulations.
15. The secretary of a club shall be responsible for the
observance of these Regulations.
Applicability of 
other Regulations.
Added by:
L.N. 69 of 1977.
S.L.10.09.
16. The provisions of the Shops for the Sale of Wine, Beer or
Spirituous Liquors (Licences, Good Order and Public Decorum)
Regulations shall apply to any premises registered as a club, unless
the Commissioner of Police, in his absolute discretion, exempts any
such club from the provisions of this regulation.
