    TERRITORIAL  WATERS AND CONTIGUOUS ZONE          ġ CAP. 226.       1
CHAPTER 226 
TERRITORIAL WATERS AND CONTIGUOUS 
ZONE ACT
To extend the territorial waters of Malta and to make provision for a
contiguous zone.
10th December, 1971
ACT XXXII of 1971, as amended by Acts: XLVI of 1975, XXIV of 1978,
XXVIII of 1981 and I of 2002.
Short title.
Contiguous Zone Act.
Interpretation.
Amended by:
I. 2002.2.
2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires - 
"appropriate action" means all or any of the following actions:
( a ) to hail a vessel,
( b ) to stop a vessel,
( c ) to board a vessel,
( d ) to search a vessel,
( e ) to arrest and detain any person suspected of being
about to commit a criminal offence or of having
committed such an offence,
( f ) to seize anything on board a vessel suspected of
having any connection with a criminal offence,
( g ) to require the master of a vessel to take the vessel and
crew out of Maltese waters or to a port or harbour in
Malta;
"foreign military vessel" means any ship belonging to the armed
forces of a foreign State and having such characteristics mutatis
mutandis as correspond to those of a Maltese military vessel;
"law" includes any instrument having the force of law; 
"Malta" means the Island of Malta, the Island of Gozo and the
other islands of the Maltese Archipelago;
"Maltese military vessel" means a ship belonging to the armed
forces of Malta bearing the external marks distinguishing such
ships as belonging to Malta under the command of an officer duly
commissioned by the government of Malta and whose name
appears in the appropriate service list or its equivalent, and manned
by a crew which is under regular armed forces discipline;
"maritime enforcement officer" means any member of the Malta
Police Force, of the Armed Forces of Malta, any Customs Officer
and any other officer vested with general law enforcement
authority;
"relevant offence" means any offence against any law relating to
customs, fiscal matters, immigration and sanitation, including
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pollution;
"relevant vessel or craft" means any Maltese military vessel or
military aircraft or any vessel or craft, including an aircraft,
belonging to the armed forces or any of the law enforcement
authorities of Malta, including the customs authorities, bearing the
external marks distinguishing such vessel or craft as belonging to
Malta and identifying it as being on government service;
"suspect vessel" means any vessel in respect of which
appropriate action is to be taken.
Extent of territorial 
waters.
Amended by:
XLVI. 1975.2;
XXIV. 1978.2. 
Cap. 138.
3. (1) Save as hereinafter provided, the territorial waters of
Malta shall be all parts of the open sea within twelve nautical miles
of the coast of Malta measured from low-water mark on the method
of straight baselines joining appropriate points.
(2) For the purposes of the Fish Industry Act and of any other
law relating to fishing, whether made before or after this Act, the
territorial waters of Malta shall extend to all other parts of the open
sea within twenty-five nautical miles from the baselines from
which the breadth of the territorial waters is measured, and, for the
purposes aforesaid, jurisdiction shall extend accordingly.
Contiguous Zone. 
Amended by: 
XLVI. 1975.2;
XXIV. 1978.3.
4. (1) Without prejudice to the provisions of article 3(2), in
the zone of the open sea contiguous to the territorial waters of
Malta as defined in article 3(1) (such zone being in this Act
referred to as "the contiguous zone") the State shall have such
jurisdictions and powers as are recognised in respect of such zone
by international law and in particular may exercise therein the
control necessary -
( a ) to prevent any contravention of any law relating to
customs, fiscal matters, immigration and sanitation,
including pollution, and
( b ) to punish offences against any such law committed
within Malta or in the territorial waters of Malta as
defined by article 3(1) or (2), as the case may require.
(2) The contiguous zone shall extend to twenty-four nautical
miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial
waters is measured.
Action with respect 
to vessel within 
Maltese waters.
Added by:
I. 2002.4.
5. (1) Subject to the provisions of subarticle (2), any
maritime enforcement officer on board a relevant vessel or craft
may, within the internal or territorial waters of Malta, take
appropriate action with respect to any vessel, other than a foreign
military vessel or a ship owned by a foreign state used only for
non-commercial service, whether flying the Maltese or any other
flag or not flying any flag, reasonably suspected of having on board
any person reasonably suspected of being about to commit or of
having committed any offence against any of the laws of Malta.
(2) Subject to the provisions of subarticle (3), where the
suspected offence has been committed on board the foreign vessel
during its passage through the territorial waters of Malta, the power
referred to in subarticle (1) shall not be exercised unless:
    TERRITORIAL  WATERS AND CONTIGUOUS ZONE          ġ CAP. 226.       3
( a ) the consequences of the offence extend to Malta; or
( b ) the offence is such as to disturb the peace of Malta or
the good order of the territorial waters; or
( c ) the assistance of the Maltese authorities has been
requested by the master of the vessel or by a
diplomatic agent or consular officer of the flag State of
the vessel; or
( d ) appropriate action is necessary for the suppression of
illicit traffic in narcotic drugs or pyschotropic
substances.
(3) The provisions of subarticle (2) shall not affect the right of
any maritime enforcement officer on board any relevant vessel or
craft to take any steps authorised by Maltese law for the purpose of
an arrest or investigation on board a foreign vessel passing through
the territorial waters of Malta after leaving Maltese internal waters.
Action with respect 
to vessel within the 
contiguous zone.
Added by:
I. 2002.4.
6. (1) Any maritime enforcement officer on board a relevant
vessel or craft may, within the contiguous zone, take appropriate
action with respect to any vessel, other than a foreign military
vessel or a ship owned by a foreign state used only for non-
commercial service, whether flying the Maltese or any other flag or
not flying any flag, reasonably suspected of having on board any
person reasonably suspected of being about to commit or of having
committed within the jurisdiction of the Maltese courts any
relevant offence.
(2) Where following appropriate action having been taken in
respect of a suspect vessel flying a foreign flag no suspicion
remains that an offence against the laws of Malta has been
committed by any member of the crew of that vessel, the same
vessel may be kept under surveillance until it is out of the limits of
the contiguous zone.
(3) Where following appropriate action having been taken in
respect of a suspect vessel, whether pertaining to Malta or flying a
foreign flag, the suspicion remains that any person on board the
vessel has committed within the jurisdiction of the Maltese courts
any offence against the laws of Malta, any maritime enforcement
officer may take any further appropriate action in respect of that
person and of the vessel and crew.
(4) Where the master of a suspect vessel has been required to
take the vessel to a port or harbour in Malta, the members of the
crew of the vessel suspected of being about to commit or of having
committed an offence within the jurisdiction of the Maltese courts
shall be handed over to the Police for further investigation.
Powers to regulate 
the passage of 
ships through 
territorial waters. 
Added by: 
XXVIII. 1981.3.
Amended by:
I. 2002.3.
7. (1) The Prime Minister may make regulations to control
and regulate the passage of ships through the territorial waters of
Malta, and, without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing,
may by such regulations make provision with respect to all or any
one or more of the following matters:
( a ) the safety of navigation and the regulation of marine
traffic, including the designation or establishment of
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sea lanes and traffic separation schemes to be used or
observed for the passage of ships;
( b ) the protection of navigational aids and facilities and
other facilities or installations;
( c ) the protection of cables and pipelines;
( d ) the conservation of the living resources of the sea; 
(e) the prevention of infringement of any law or
regulation relating to fisheries;
( f ) the preservation of the environment and the
prevention, reduction and control of pollution thereof;
( g ) marine scientific research and hydrographic surveys; 
( h ) the prevention of infringement of any customs, fiscal,
immigration or sanitary laws or regulations;
( i ) the arrest, detention and seizure of ships to ensure
compliance with any law, rule, regulation or order and
such other power as may be necessary for securing
such compliance;
( j ) the punishments, whether by way of fine ( multa  or
ammenda ) or of imprisonment, to be applied in respect
of any contravention or non-observance of any
regulation made under this article.
(2) In the application of any regulation made under subarticle
(1) to warships or to nuclear powered ships or to ships carrying
nuclear or other inherently dangerous or noxious substances, their
passage through territorial waters may, by any such regulation, be
made subject to the prior consent of, or prior notification to, such
authority as may be specified therein.
Saving.  
Amended by:
XXVIII. 1981.2;
I. 2002.3, 5.
8. (1) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as affecting any
jurisdiction and power exercisable in accordance with international
law outside territorial waters, and in particular the following
provisions of this article shall apply.
Right of hot 
pursuit.
(2) Subject to the provisions of subarticle (3), where a relevant
vessel or craft has, within Maltese internal or territorial waters, or
within the contiguous zone of Malta, commenced the pursuit of a
suspect vessel, the relevant vessel may continue in hot pursuit of
the suspect vessel into the high seas provided that the pursuit has
not been interrupted:
Provided that where the suspect vessel is within the
contiguous zone when it is ordered to stop by a maritime
enforcement officer on board the relevant vessel, the pursuit may
only be undertaken if the suspect vessel is suspected of having
committed any relevant offence.
(3) Where the suspect vessel is within the contiguous zone, hot
pursuit may only be undertaken if the commission of a relevant
offence is reasonably suspected.
(4) The right of hot pursuit referred to in this article shall not
be undertaken unless the relevant vessel or craft has first given the
    TERRITORIAL  WATERS AND CONTIGUOUS ZONE          ġ CAP. 226.       5
suspect vessel a visual or auditory signal to stop and the said right
of hot pursuit shall cease where the suspect vessel enters the
territorial sea of its own State or of a third State.
(5) Where hot pursuit is effected by an aircraft the provisions
of subarticles (2) to (4) shall apply  mutatis mutandis . The
provisions of subarticle (6) shall also apply.
(6) An aircraft shall not arrest a suspect vessel outside the
territorial waters of Malta unless the aircraft had itself ordered the
suspect vessel to stop and had pursued it without interruption, and
where hot pursuit had been undertaken by an aircraft and the
pursuit was taken over by another aircraft or ship, such other
aircraft or ship shall only be authorised to arrest the suspect vessel
outside the territorial waters of Malta if the said other aircraft or
ship had continued the pursuit without interruption.
(7) The right of hot pursuit shall apply  mutuatis mutandis  to
any violation in the area estabished by article 3(2) or of any law for
the purposes of which the said area is established.
Action with respect 
to vessel on the 
high seas.
(8) Where a Maltese military vessel encounters on the high
seas a foreign vessel, not being a foreign military vessel or a ship
owned by a foreign State used only on non-commercial service,
hereafter referred to in this subarticle as the suspect vessel, and
there is reasonable ground for suspecting that -
( a ) the suspect vessel is engaged in piracy;
( b ) the suspect vessel is engaged in the slave trade;
( c ) the suspect vessel is engaged in unauthorised
broadcasting and the Maltese courts have jurisdiction
thereon;
( d ) the suspect vessel is without nationality; or
( e ) though flying a foreign flag or refuses to show its flag,
the suspect vessel is a vessel registered in Malta,
any maritime enforcement officer on board the relevant vessel may
proceed to verify the suspect vessel’s right to fly its flag by
boarding the suspect vessel and checking its documents and if
thereupon suspicion remains as to the nationality of the suspect
vessel, the relevant vessel may proceed to a further examination
with all possible consideration.
(9) Any person or suspect vessel discovered to be engaged in
unauthorised broadcasting as provided in subarticle (7)( c ) may be
arrested by any maritime enforcement officer on board the relevant
vessel who may also seize any apparatus used in the said
unauthorised broadcasting.
