   CODE OF POLICE LAWS        ġ CAP. 10.             1
CHAPTER 10 
CODE OF POLICE LAWS
To Amend and Consolidate the Police Laws *
10th June, 1854
Order-in-Council of the 30th of January, 1854, as amended by Ordinance: I of 1856, V of
1858, X of 1859, X of 1867, III of 1868, III of 1872, VIII of 1874, IV of 1875, IV of 1876, II
and VII of 1880, VI of 1881, XIV of 1885, V and VI of 1886, XVIII of 1888, VII of 1889, II of
1890, XVII of 1893, II and VIII of 1897, I and XIII of 1898, I and IX of 1899, III, IV, IX, XI
and XIII of 1900, III, XII and XV of 1904, VIII of 1908, XI of 1910; Government Notices: No.
64 of 1910, No. 347 of 1911; Ordinances: II of 1911, IV of 1912, XIII of 1913, II of 1915, XIII
of 1918, XV of 1919, I and XV of 1920, XIII of 1921; Government Notices: Nos. 75 and 205 of
1921, Nos. 161 and 257 of 1922; Acts: XIX of 1926, XIII of 1929; Ordinances: VIII of 1930, I,
VII and XVI of 1931, VIII and XIV of 1932; Acts: VII of 1932, VI of 1933; Ordinance: XI of
1933; Act: XXXIV of 1933; Government Notices: Nos. 287 and 291 of 1933; Ordinances:
XXIII and XXV of 1934, XXV, XXVII and XXIX of 1935; Government Notice No. 247 of 1935;
Ordinances: XI of 1936, VI, XIII, XVI, XX, XXVI and XXXVII of 1937, XII, XVII, XX and
XXXIII of 1938, XXI of 1939; Government Notice: No. 218 of 1939; Ordinance: XXXV of
1940; Government Notices: No. 445 of 1941, Nos. 329 and 646 of 1942; Ordinance: VII of
1942. Incorporating also Ordinance XIII of 1888 as amended by Ordinances: VII of 1939,
XXXIV of 1940 and III of 1941.
The Code was subsequently amended by Ordinances: XVIII of 1943, XX of 1944, VII of
1945, VIII, XVI, XX, XXXIII and XXXIX of 1946, I, XXX and XXXVI of 1947; Proc. IX of
17.10.1947; Acts: XXXVI, XL and XLIX of 1948, VI and XL of 1949, IV and X of 1950, XXII of
1952, X of 1956, II, X and XX of 1957, II of 1958; Emergency Ordinances: XIV of 1958, I and
VII of 1959; Ordinances: V of 1960, III, XIII, XV and XXV of 1962; Legal Notices: 2 and 4 of
1963; Acts: IV and XVII of 1963, III of 1965; Legal Notice: 46 of 1965; Acts: XLII of 1965, XI
and XVI of 1966, I, XII and XXXI of 1967, II of 1968, XIV, XXII and XXV of 1969, IV, IX and
XVI of 1971, III and XXX of 1972, XI and XXIII of 1973, II, XXX, XXXIII, XLII and L of 1974,
XL, LIV and LV of 1975; Legal Notice: 148 of 1975; Acts: XIII, XXII and XLII of 1976, XI and
XIII of 1977; Legal Notices: 105 and 139 of 1977; Acts: XXIII of 1978, XVII of 1980, XIV and
XLIX of 1981, VIII and IX of 1982, XIII of 1983, XV of 1985, XIV and XLII of 1986, X of 1988,
VIII of 1990; Legal Notice: 161 of 1990; and Acts: V and XVII of 1991, I of 1992, XXVIII of
1994, VI, XXIV of 1995, XIX of 1996, XXIII of 2000, II, XXIV, XXV and XXVII of 2001, and III
and XXXI of 2002.
*This Code under the Title of "Laws and Regulations of Police for the Island of Malta and its Dependencies"
was enacted by Order-in-Council of the 30th January, 1854, promulgated in Malta by Proclamation I of the
10th of March, 1854. The Title was subsequently, by Ordinance No. III of 1872, altered into "The Police
Laws for the Island of Malta and its Dependencies".
2               CAP. 10. ħ               CODE OF POLICE LAWS
ARRANGEMENT OF CODE
Articles
Short title and Interpretation 1 - 2
Part I. Town and Country Planning Schemes *  
Part II. Of Streets 20 - 41
Part III. Of the Law Courts 42 - 47
Part IV. Of Vehicles 48 -  94
Part V. Of Inhabited Areas, Houses and other Tenements 95 - 134
Part VI. Of Cemeteries and of the Interment of Dead Bodies 135 - 147
Part VII. Of Aqueducts and Public Fountains 148 - 151
Part VIII. Of Animals 152 - 168
Part IX. Of Hotels and other Lodging-Houses 169 - 180
Part X. Of Shopkeepers and other Traders 181 - 193
Part XI. Of Certain Trades 194
Part XII. Of Clubs 195
Part XIII. Of Public Billiard Tables 196 - 200
Part XIV. Of Theatres and Public Entertainments 201 - 204
Part XV. Of Sportsmen 205 - 214
Part XVI. Of Shepherds and Goatherds 215 - 217
Part XVII. Of Porters 218 - 219
Part XVIII. Of Shoeblacks 222
Part XIX. Of Brokers ( Pitkali ) and Vendors of Agricultural Produce 223
Part XX. Of Territorial Waters, Harbours and Wharves 224 - 231
Part XXI. Of Masters of Vessels 235 - 238
Part XXII. Of Boats
Of Boats in General **
Of Ballast Boats **
Of Gozo Boats **
Of Pontoons **
Of Cargo Boats **
Of Water Boats **
Of Passage Boats 270 - 286
Of Caiques and other Small Boats **
Of Steam-Boats 289 -  303
Part XXIII. Of Fishing, Sale of Fish and Fishing Boats 305 - 306
Part XXIV.  Of Boatmen 307 - 309
Part XXV. Of Dealers in Marine Stores and Old Metals  310 - 316
Part XXVA.  Of Video Recorders  316A - 316B
Part XXVI.  General Provisions  317 - 322
  * Repealed by Act No. I of 1992 (Cap. 356).
** Repealed by Act No. XVII of 1991 (Cap. 352).
   CODE OF POLICE LAWS        ġ CAP. 10.             3
Title.
Interpretation. 
Amended by: 
VII. 1889.8,10; 
IX. 1900.21; 
XIII. 1913.9; 
XV.1920.14; 
XVI.1931.43,47,
48;
XX.1957.2; 
I.1959.8;
V.1960.2; 
L.N. 4 of 1963; 
XIV.1969.19; 
L.1974.2; 
XI.1977.2; 
L.N. 161 of 1990; 
XVII.1991.82;
XXIII. 2000.30;
XXVII. 2001.33.  
Cap. 44.
2. In this Code, the following expressions shall have the
meanings hereby assigned to them respectively, unless there is
something in the subject or context inconsistent with such
construction or unless it is therein otherwise expressly provided -
the expression "architect" means any person authorized to
practise the profession of architect and civil engineer under the
provisions of the Architects Ordinance;
the expression "boat" means any craft not intended for
navigation to places outside the limits of Malta, used for the
purpose of carrying on any trade or calling, and includes pleasure
boat;
the expression "cattle-pen" means any place in which there are
more than two animals of the bovine species;
the expression "cellar" means any part of a house the floor of
which is more than one metre below the level of the nearest street;
the expression "cemetery" means any cemetery, tomb or other
site destined for the burial of dead bodies, wherever situate;
the expression "common tenement-house" means any house
where more than two families reside and there is not in the room or
apartment occupied by each family a separate privy and a separate
water supply;
the expression "court-yard" includes any court-yard, garden or
other uncovered space;
Cap. 94.
the expression "General Services Board" means the Board
constituted under  article  41 of the Department of Health
(Constitution) Ordinance;
the expression "harbour" means any harbour, port, bay, cove,
creek or seashore;
the expression "house" means any house properly so called, and
includes any mezzanine, room, store or other building made chiefly
of stone or other material used in building construction;
the expression "inhabited area" means any area in which there is
an aggregation of houses inhabited or capable of being inhabited by
more than one hundred persons;
Cap. 352.
the expression "Malta Maritime Authority" means the Authority
established under the Malta Maritime Authority Act;
the expression "mason" means any person who constructs wholly
or in part, any stone or brick building not built without mortar,
even though the work done or commenced by such person consists
merely in the erection of a wall intended to form part of a building,
or in the formation of a cistern, privy, sink or cesspool or of a
conduit for the passage of filthy water or sewage matter;
the expression "master" means any person having the command,
charge or custody of any vessel;
the expression "owner", used with reference to immovable
property, includes any person representing the owner in the
4               CAP. 10. ħ               CODE OF POLICE LAWS
administration of the property concerned, or acting on behalf of the
owner or assuming the character of owner, according to
circumstances;
the expression "person" includes an association or body of
persons;
the expression "pigsty" means any place in which there are more
than two pigs;
the expression "place of the privy" means the closet or other
enclosed place in which the privy is situate;
the expression "privy" includes any latrine, or other fixed
receptacle intended for the immediate use of man for his natural
wants, and any aperture communicating with a sewer, cesspool, pit,
or other place for the deposit of filth or sewage matter, intended for
the use and wants as aforesaid, even though such receptacle or
aperture be also intended for other purposes;
the expression "sanitary authority" includes the General Services
Board, the Superintendent of Public Health, a Medical Officer of
Health, a Sanitary Engineer, a Health Inspector, and any other
person appointed by the Minister responsible for public health to
ensure the observance of this Code so far as it relates to public
health;
the expression "sheep-pen" means any place in which there are
more than four sheep or goats;
the expression "street" means any street and includes any road,
alley, square, fortification or other place of public passage;
Cap. 332.
the expression "vehicle" has the same meaning assigned to it by
article 2 of the Malta Transport Authority Act;
the expression "vessel" means any ship or boat or any other
description of vessel used in navigation.
Added by: 
II.1897.1. 
Amended by: 
VI.1937.2. 
Substituted by: 
XV.1962.2. 
Repealed by: 
I.1992.63.
PART I  *
T OWN AND  C OUNTRY  P LANNING  S CHEMES
*Articles 3 to 19, both inclusive, were repealed by Act No. I of 1992.
   CODE OF POLICE LAWS        ġ CAP. 10.             5
PART II
O F  S TREETS
Width of new 
streets. 
Amended by: 
II.1880.1; 
VII.1889.1; 
XVII.1893.1,2; 
I.1920.2; 
XIII.1921.2; 
VI. 1937.3; 
XLIX.1948.5;
IV. 1950.2; 
XIV.1958; 
VII. 1959.2; 
XV.1962.14; 
XXV. 1962; 
L.N. 2 of 1963; 
III. 1965.3; 
LVIII.1974.68; 
XIV.1981.2;
XXIII. 2000.30.
20. (1) Every new street in any inhabited area or any street
made with a view that it may form part of an inhabited area which
may hereafter be built up shall be at least eight metres wide:
Provided that the Malta Transport Authority may require
any such street to be of a stated width exceeding eight metres but
not exceeding eighteen metres.
Course, direction 
and position of 
new streets.
(2) No new street in an inhabited area, nor any street made with
a view that it may form part of an inhabited area which may
hereafter be built up, shall be made without the sanction first
obtained from the Malta Transport Authority with the concurrence
of such other authority, if any, as the Prime Minister may by order
from time to time determine as to its course, direction and position,
and as to the manner in which the adjoining houses are to be
sewered and supplied with water and the surface water is to flow
off.
Definition of "new 
street".
(3) The expression "new street" shall include the extension of
any existing street:
Provided that in such case, the minimum width of the street
may, with the permission of the Malta Transport Authority, be
reduced to six metres.
Malta Transport 
Authority may 
refuse permission 
for the opening of a 
new street.
(4) The Malta Transport Authority may refuse permission for
the opening of a new street:
Provided that the Minister responsible for transport may, on
the application of the party aggrieved, revise the decision of the
Malta Transport Authority.
Erection of 
buildings along 
new streets.
(5)  No building abutting on a new street shall be erected before
the street has been levelled to the proper line fixed by the Malta
Transport Authority. The length of the street to be so levelled shall
extend from any existing street already opened to the public to the
extreme end of the frontage of the building to be erected.
Contribution 
payable by persons 
commencing the 
construction of 
buildings having 
access to street 
belonging to 
Government.
(6)(i)( a ) Subject to the provisions of this article, no person
may commence the construction of any building
having access to, or having any window or other
opening on to, any street belonging to the
Government, before paying to the Malta Transport
Authority, in respect of the formation of the street,
a contribution equal to the cost, as at the time of
payment of the contribution, of the formation of
6               CAP. 10. ħ               CODE OF POLICE LAWS
such street (such cost to include the value, as at
the time of payment of the contribution, of the
land required for the formation of the street) or
before paying to the Malta Transport Authority at
least twenty-five per cent of such contribution and
at the same time undertaking in writing to pay the
balance within a period of not more than twelve
months by equal monthly instalments,
commencing one month from the date of such
payment and undertaking:
           Provided that where the land on either side or on
both sides of the street belongs to different owners
the total contribution shall be apportioned among
such owners in proportion to the frontage of the
land belonging to each owner on to such street, in
such a manner that the whole cost of the street
shall be distributed in proportion to such frontage
among the various owners:
         Provided further that where before the 16th day of
February, 1962, the contribution payable in
respect of the formation or the widening of the
street has been duly paid in relation to a particular
frontage as aforesaid in accordance with the
provisions of the law then in force, no further
contribution in respect of such frontage shall be
payable under this paragraph.
( b ) Where any monthly instalment referred to in sub-
paragraph ( a ) is not paid within ten days from the
date when the payment of such instalment falls
due, the whole amount of the contribution
outstanding shall become and be immediately due
and owing to the Malta Transport Authority and
the person who made the undertaking referred to
in the said sub-paragraph shall be deemed to have
commenced the construction of the building in
contravention of this sub-article.
(ii)  Where a building is set back not more than forty-six
metres from the street, it shall be deemed to have a
frontage on to the street, and the contribution payable
by the owner of such building under the last preceding
paragraph shall be assessed as if such frontage were
equal to the distance between two parallel lines
projected on to the street from two extremities of the
land on or within the curtilage of which such building
is constructed, the extremities of the land and the
direction of the parallel lines to be determined by the
Malta Transport Authority.
(iii)  A contribution in respect of the cost of the widening of
any street, at whatever time carried out, may be
claimed by the Malta Transport Authority as in the
case of a new street and such contribution shall only be
levied from the owner or owners who has or have
   CODE OF POLICE LAWS        ġ CAP. 10.             7
derived a benefit from such widening and shall be
apportioned in proportion to the benefit so derived.
(iv)  Where any street to which this sub-article applies
exceeds eighteen metres in width, the cost of the
formation or widening of the street in excess of such
width shall not be taken into account in fixing the
contribution payable to the Malta Transport Authority.
(v)  Any contribution payable under the provisions of this
article and any apportionment thereof among the
owners shall, in default of agreement, be fixed by the
Malta Transport Authority:
        Provided that any party interested may impugn the
assessment of the Malta Transport Authority by an
application before the competent civil court.
(vi)  Notwithstanding the provisions of sub-paragraph   ( a )
of paragraph (i), the contribution payable in respect of
the formation of the street by an owner of any plot of
land acquired from the Housing Authority under the
Home Ownership Scheme after the 27th day of
September, 1979, shall be equal to the cost of
asphalting the street; and in assessing such
contribution no account shall be taken of the value of
the land required for the formation of such street, and
of the cost of asphalting that part of the street which
exceeds ten metres in width where the street is built up
on both sides, or of that part of the street which
exceeds five metres in width where the street is built
up on one side only.
Power of Malta 
Transport 
Authority to carry 
out works in 
private streets.
(7) The Malta Transport Authority may, at any time, carry out
or cause or allow to be carried out in and under any street not
belonging to the Government any work whatsoever which he
considers necessary or useful on grounds of public utility. 
Levelling, etc., of 
street by owner.
(8) Every new street not belonging to the Government shall be
properly levelled, metalled and put in a proper state as regards its
drainage, by the person by whom such street shall have been
opened, in accordance with the directions and to the satisfaction of
the Malta Transport Authority. Every such street shall, moreover,
be provided by the said person with footways with kerb and gutter
made of hard stone or other suitable material to the satisfaction of
the Malta Transport Authority:
Provided that the owner of any plot of land acquired from
the Housing Authority under the Home Ownership Scheme after
the 27th day of September, 1979, shall be exempt from the
obligation of levelling the street and putting it in a proper state as
regards its drainage.
Upkeep of private 
streets.
(9)  (i)  Every street shall be kept in a proper state of
repair to the satisfaction of the Malta Transport
Authority, by the person by whom such street shall
have been opened.
8               CAP. 10. ħ               CODE OF POLICE LAWS
Persons deemed to 
have opened street 
and to be owners 
thereof.
(ii) The owners of any property immediately abutting
on any street not belonging to the Government or
the persons holding such property on
emphyteutical lease shall, for the purposes of this
article, be deemed to be the persons who opened
such street and the owners thereof:
       Provided that any person who is bound to carry out
any work in any such street shall be entitled to
bring against third parties any civil action,
admissible according to law, for the recovery of
any expenses incurred in the execution of the
work:
             Provided further that no such civil action shall
delay the execution of the work by the person who
is bound thereto.
Asphalting, etc., of 
streets.
(10)  Without prejudice to any other action available
according to law, the Malta Transport Authority
shall be enabled to carry out or, as the case may
be, to continue the carrying out of all or any of the
works specified in sub-article (8) and in sub-
article (9)(i) after having given the owner notice
by registered letter of his decision so to do; any
such works shall be carried out at the expense of
the person who has opened the street.
     (ii) Every street not belonging to the Government,
including the footway thereof, shall, on notice by
registered letter given by the Malta Transport
Authority, be asphalted or surfaced otherwise as
indicated by the Malta Transport Authority, by the
Malta Transport Authority, at the owner’s
expense.
      (iii)  Each of the notices mentioned in the last two
preceding paragraphs shall specify the amount
payable by the owner as his share of the expense in
connection with the proposed works.
(iv) The Malta Transport Authority shall give notice
by registered letter of the date of completion of the
works referred to in paragraphs (i) and (ii) to the
owners, who shall effect payment, unless they
have already done so, of the amount due by them
without interest, within a month of the receipt of
the notice of completion of the works.
 (v) Every notice sent by registered post in terms of
this sub-article shall be deemed to have reached
the addressee in the normal course of postal
delivery.
(vi) Streets not belonging to the Government shall,
when such streets are included in a scheme or in a
local plan -
( a ) on their asphalting or other surfacing; and
   CODE OF POLICE LAWS        ġ CAP. 10.             9
( b ) upon the publication in the Gazette of an
Order by the President to that effect,
become government property and the owners shall
thereafter be relieved of any further obligation of
maintaining the streets.
 (vii)  (deleted by XXIII.2000.30)
(viii) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the
contrary, the site of every street or part of a street
transferred to the Government in accordance with
paragraph (vi) shall, on the Order of the President,
be freed absolutely from every privilege and
hypothec theretofore affecting it, without
prejudice to the entire credit secured by that
privilege or hypothec continuing to be a charge on
the residue of the property of which that site
formed part and on all other affected properties, if
any, of the debtor. Any such liberation shall not be
subject to any requirement of reference or other
entry in the Public Registry.
(11)  If the owner of the street shall fail to pay any
amount due by him under and within the period
specified in the last preceding sub-article, he shall
thereupon become liable to the payment over and
above the amount so due of interest at eight  per
centum  thereon as from the date of completion of
the works to the date of payment, and the expense
incurred by the Malta Transport Authority
together with that interest thereon shall constitute
a privileged claim in favour of the Malta Transport
Authority on that owner’s property immediately
abutting on the street, and such claim shall be paid
in preference to all other claims, whether
privileged or hypothecary on such property,
notwithstanding any other provision of law to the
contrary.
(ii)  Such right of priority may not be enforced unless
the claim is registered in the Public Registry
within two months from the completion of the
works aforesaid. In default of evidence to the
contrary the date of the completion of the works
shall be deemed to be that indicated in the note for
the registration of the privilege.
Expense incurred 
by Malta Transport 
Authority to be 
apportioned among 
owners.
(12) For the purpose of the registration and recovery of any
claim under sub-articles (10) and (11), the expense incurred by the
Malta Transport Authority shall be apportioned by the Malta
Transport Authority among the owners in proportion to the frontage
of their respective land or buildings along the street:
Provided that any owner may impugn the assessment made
by the Malta Transport Authority by an application before the
competent civil court in contestation with the Malta Transport
Authority.
10               CAP. 10. ħ               CODE OF POLICE LAWS
Rates for levelling, 
etc., of streets.
(13) The Minister may, after consultation with the Malta
Transport Authority, by regulations prescribe the rates to be
charged by the Malta Transport Authority for the levelling,
metalling and asphalting of surface otherwise of streets.
(14) Where any person fails to form any street as provided in
accordance with the provisions of this Code, the Malta Transport
Authority may itself proceed to form such street after giving notice
of its intention so to do by means of a notice in the Gazette, giving
such person fifteen days within which to comply.  Such formation
shall be at the expense of the person who would otherwise have
been obliged to form such street, and the Authority shall have the
right to recover any expense so made from such person.
Cap. 356.
(15) The contributions leviable under this Part by the Malta
Transport Authority, may be collected and levied by the Planning
Authority under regulations made in terms of article 42 of the
Development Planning Act, and such regulations may provide for
the rates of contributions in respect of any class or type of building
as well as the manner of their collection.
Power in 
connection with 
painting of names 
of streets, etc.
 Amended by: 
II. 1880.1;
XIII. 1921.2; 
VI. 1937.3;
XXIII. 2000.30.
Cap. 363.
21. The Malta Transport Authority, and to the extent of any
responsibility of a Local Council in terms of the Local Councils
Act, a Local Council, may cause the name by which any street in an
inhabited area is to be called, as well as the name of the town,
suburb or village in which the street is situated, and any other
notice or mark which may be considered useful for directing routes
or giving warnings about dangerous corners, or for any other public
purpose, to be painted or affixed and maintained in a legible state
on the walls of any building other than a building destined for
divine worship.
Naming of streets. 
Amended by: 
II. 1880.1; 
XIII. 1921.2; 
VI.1937.3; 
L.N. 4 of 1963; 
VIII.1982.2;
XXIII. 2000.30.
22. (1) No person shall paint, mark, write or affix in any street
open to the public any name as that by which such street is to be
called, or any name of any town, suburb or village, or any notice or
mark similar to that painted or made in accordance with the
provisions of the last preceding article without the approval of the
Malta Transport Authority, or of the Local Council responsible for
the locality in which such street is situated, as the case may be,
although such street does not belong to the Government.
(2) The name of any street shall be preserved until the Minister
responsible for the Police directs the alteration thereof.
(3) Any order of the Minister responsible for the Police for the
alteration of the name of any street or for giving or approving a
name to a new street shall be published in the Gazette.
Destruction, 
obliteration or 
defacement of 
name of street, 
suburb or village. 
Amended by: 
II. 1880.2; 
XIII. 1921.3.
23. (1) It is forbidden to destroy, obliterate or deface the name
of any street, or damage the slab bearing such name, or add any
word to the name assigned to such street under the provisions of the
foregoing articles.
(2) It is also forbidden to destroy, obliterate or deface the name
of any town, suburb or village or any notice or mark painted or
made under the provisions of the foregoing articles, or add any
word or mark thereto, or damage any slab bearing any such name,
   CODE OF POLICE LAWS        ġ CAP. 10.             11
notice or mark.
Closing of streets 
during repairs.
Amended by:
XXIII. 2000.30.
24. The Malta Transport Authority is empowered to give
orders and take the requisite steps for closing any street and
stopping the thoroughfare thereof during the construction,
alteration, repair or demolition of such street, or of a conduit, sewer
or other public work in such street.
Works causing 
obstruction or 
danger in streets.
Amended by:
XXVII. 2001.33.
25. Without prejudice to the provisions of any other law, it
shall not be lawful, without a licence from the appropriate Local
Council, to construct any work or make any thing in any street,
which may cause obstruction or create danger or inconvenience to
the public, or, in spite of an intimation by the Police or by a local
warden, to leave any building or work which is ruinous or
dangerous to persons or to the property of others.
Tanks, etc., on or 
part of walls. 
Added by:
XV. 1985.2.
25A.  It shall not be lawful for any person to construct, keep or
suffer to be kept on or as part of any wall bordering on or visible
from any street, or in any area visible from any street, any drum,
tank or similar article or any object which is not building material
as to lead to defacement of the environment.
Projections on 
street.
Amended by:
XXIII. 2000.30.
26. It shall not be lawful for any person, without a licence from
the Malta Transport Authority, to construct on any house or
building any work projecting on the street.
Notice to Malta 
Transport 
Authority before 
commencing 
buildings or 
making 
excavations.
Amended by:
XVII. 1893.12; 
VI. 1937.4;
XXIII. 2000.30.
27.   (1) It shall not be lawful to commence any building or
make any excavation contiguous to any street or within a distance
of fifteen metres from any street, without previously giving notice
thereof to the Malta Transport Authority.
Court may prohibit 
erection of 
buildings 
encroaching upon 
public way.
(2) The Court of Magistrates may, at the instance of the Malta
Transport Authority, prohibit the erection of any building which
may encroach upon, or do injury to the public way. 
Power of Malta 
Transport 
Authority to order 
demolished 
buildings to be 
reconstructed on 
line of street. 
Amended by:
L.N. 4 of 1963;
XXIII. 2000.30.
28. Where any house, building, or wall of which any part
protrudes beyond the regular line of the street, is taken down to be
rebuilt or altered, it shall be lawful for the Malta Transport
Authority to order such house, building or wall to be constructed on
the regular line of the street, saving always such compensation as
may be due according to law.
Permit from Malta 
Transport 
Authority for 
breaking up 
footway or surface 
of street.
Amended by: 
VI. 1937.5;
XXIII. 2000.30;
XXVII. 2001.33.
29. (1) It shall not be lawful for any person for any cause
whatsoever, to break up or open the footway or surface of any
street without a permit from the Malta Transport Authority, or in a
manner different from that stated on such permit. On completion of
the work for which such permit is issued, the grantee shall, with all
convenient despatch, re-instate the footway or surface so broken up
or so opened.
(2) An application for a permit under subarticle (1) shall be
12               CAP. 10. ħ               CODE OF POLICE LAWS
made to the Malta Transport Authority in such manner and on the
payment of such fees as may be prescribed by regulations made by
the Minister responsible for the Malta Transport Authority.
(3) If on completion of the work for which a permit is issued
the grantee does not carry out the re-instatement within forty-eight
hours of completion, or within such longer period as may be
allowed in the permit, or the re-instatement is not properly carried
out, the Malta Transport Authority may carry out the re-instatement
at the expense of the grantee. For such purpose the Malta Transport
Authority shall demand that an adequate deposit be made with or a
bank guarantee to be provided in favour of, the Malta Transport
Authority by the applicant for the permit.
(4) Without prejudice to the other provisions of this article, if a
person carries out any work without a permit in contravention of
subarticle (1), such person shall be guilty of a contravention and
shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine ( ammenda ) of fifty liri.
(5) The person on whose behalf or at whose request the works
have been carried out shall be liable  in solidum  with the person who
carried out the works to carry out the reinstatement works.
Precautions during 
construction or 
repair of streets, 
etc.
30. During the construction or repair of any street, sewer,
conduit, or any other work in any street, the proper officer shall
take the requisite precautions against any accident, and shall
sustain, where necessary, the contiguous houses with props, taking
care that every such sewer, conduit, or other work be sufficiently
lighted and protected during the night so as to prevent accidents.
Propping up of 
houses during 
repairs.
31. The owner of any house or other building shall also on the
occasion of the demolition, construction or repair of any such
house or other building apply props, where necessary, as provided
in the last preceding article.
Fences to be set up 
during repairs.
32. Any person intending to take down, construct, alter, or
repair any building in such a manner as will necessitate the deposit
of building materials in the street, or may be a source of injury,
danger, or inconvenience, shall, before beginning the same, cause
sufficient fences to be put up in order to separate the building
where the works are to be carried out from the street with a
convenient space for the thoroughfare, and shall keep such fences
and such space in good condition during such time as the public
safety or convenience requires; and shall, in all cases in which it is
necessary in order to prevent accidents, cause the same to be
sufficiently lighted during the night.
Light at night-time 
to be placed on or 
near materials in 
street.
33. A sufficient light shall also be placed, during the night, on
or near the materials lying in the street, by the person who shall
have laid there such materials on the occasion of any building,
repair or excavation.
Prohibition to 
leave materials or 
other obstruction in 
street longer than 
necessary.
34. It shall not be lawful to leave in any street building
materials or other obstructions, or any excavation open longer than
necessary; and in any such case, the proof that the necessary time
has not been exceeded shall lie on the person so causing such
materials or other obstructions to be laid, or such excavation to be
made.
   CODE OF POLICE LAWS        ġ CAP. 10.             13
Openings in 
surface or footway 
leading to cellars, 
etc., to be covered.
35.   (1) Any opening in the surface or footway of any street,
leading to a vault, cellar, or other place underground, shall be
covered by a door or other proper covering, and such door or
covering shall be kept in repair by the owner.
(2) Nevertheless, where such vault, cellar, or place
underground is intended for habitation, it shall suffice to make on
the edge of the opening a sufficient fence for the safety of the
public, where this is practicable without causing considerable
obstruction in the street.
Rebuilding of 
walls fallen on the 
street.
Amended by:
XVII. 1893.3;
XXIII. 2000.30.
36. (1) The occupier of any tenement shall rebuild, without
delay, any wall of such tenement which shall have fallen on the
street, or which, being a party-wall between a tenement and a
street, shall require, in the opinion of the Malta Transport
Authority, to be rebuilt.
(2) In any such case, the provisions of article 28 shall, where
necessary, apply.
No red or white 
soil to be dug up 
without 
permission. 
Amended by:
XVII.1893.12;
XXIII. 2000.30.
37. It shall not be lawful for any person to dig up red or white
soil from any street or other public place, without a permit from the
Malta Transport Authority.
Prohibition of 
certain acts and 
omissions. 
Amended by: 
X.1859.1; 
V.1886.1; 
XVIII.1888.12; 
II. 1890.1,2;
XVII. 1893.4; 
IX. 1900.1; 
XII.1904.48; 
XI.1910.1,2; 
XIX.1926.2; 
XL.1948.2;
L.N. 4 of 1963; 
XXXI. 1967.37.
38. ( Repealed by XXV. 2001.50. )
Authorization to 
act as scavenger. 
Added by:
IX. 1899.5. 
Amended by: 
XII. 1938.2; 
XIV.1958; 
XXV.1962;
L.N. 4 of 1963; 
XI.1977.2;
39. ( Repealed by XXVII. 2001.33. )
Acts and omissions 
wherefrom 
damage, 
obstruction, danger 
or inconvenience 
to persons may 
result. 
Amended by: 
IX.1900.2.
40.  ( Repealed by XXV. 2001.50. )
14               CAP. 10. ħ               CODE OF POLICE LAWS
Playing musical 
instruments, 
singing or shouting 
in street or shops.
Amended by: 
III.1872.3; 
XXV. 1935.2.
41. (1) No person shall sound or play on any musical or noisy
instrument or sing, or for the purpose of hawking, selling,
distributing or advertising any article, shout in any street, shop or
other public place, after being required to desist by any occupant or
inmate of any premises in the neighbourhood on account of the
illness of any person in such premises or for other reasonable
cause, or after being so required by the Police.
(2) No person shall - 
( a ) in any street, shop or other public place; or 
( b ) upon any other premises, 
by operating or causing or suffering to be operated any wireless
loud speaker, gramophone, amplifier or similar instrument, make or
cause or suffer to be made any noise which shall be so loud as to
cause a nuisance to occupants or inmates of any premises in the
neighbourhood.
Added by:
I. 1947.2.
PART III
O F THE  L AW  C OURTS
Definition. 
Added by:
I. 1947.2.
42. For the purpose of this Part of this Code the expression
"tout" means any person who, not being a duly qualified advocate
or legal procurator or notary public in accordance with the laws of
Malta, undertakes in return for any fee, reward or remuneration,
whether in cash or in kind or for any other consideration, to do any
of the following acts:
( a ) to draft or prepare, otherwise than on direct
instructions and on the responsibility of an advocate or
legal procurator or notary public any affidavit,
testament, deed of sale, deed of emphyteusis or lease,
transfer, compromise, promise of sale, or any other
contract or document under private signature or any
writ of summons or libel or statement of pleas or
petition or reply or application or any other judicial or
extra judicial document;
( b ) to give legal advice whether oral or in writing to any
person;
( c ) to find clients for any advocate or any legal procurator
or any notary public.
Touting is an 
offence.  
Added by: 
I. 1947.2.
43. It shall be an offence for any person -
( a ) to act as a tout on behalf of any advocate or legal
procurator or notary public or on his own account; or
( b ) to induce or to endeavour to induce any client or
prospective client of any advocate or of any legal
procurator or of any notary public to cease to be the
client of such advocate or legal procurator or notary
public in order to become the client of the advocate or
legal procurator or notary public, whom such person
   CODE OF POLICE LAWS        ġ CAP. 10.             15
serves as secretary, clerk, or in any other capacity; or
( c ) maliciously to decry the professional ability of an
advocate or of a legal procurator or of a notary public
for the purpose of diverting professional work to
another advocate or to another legal procurator or to
another notary public.
List of touts and 
appeals against 
inclusion of names 
therein. 
Added by:
I. 1947.2.
Amended by:
L.N. 148 of 1975;
VIII. 1990.3;
XXIV.1995.362;
XXXI. 2002.255.
44. (1) The Registrar of Courts, the registrar of the Court of
Magistrates (Malta) or the registrar of the Court of Magistrates
(Gozo) shall, each in respect of the court to which he is attached,
frame and publish in the Gazette lists of persons proved to their
respective satisfaction to have acted or attempted to act as touts or
unauthorised advisers to suitors or prospective suitors subsequently
to the enactment of this provision and may, from time to time, alter
and amend such lists.
(2) No person’s name shall be included in any such list until he
has had an opportunity over a period of not less than four working
days of showing cause against such inclusion. The registrar’s final
decision to include a name in any such list shall be conveyed to the
person concerned by registered letter, which shall be deemed to
have been received by the addressee on proof that it was delivered
at the addressee’s last known place of residence.
(3) An appeal shall lie against the Registrar’s decision to include a
person’s name in any such list, by application made within twenty days
after the receipt of the Registrar’s final decision. T he appeal shall lie
to the Court of Magistrates in its superior jurisdiction.
(4) A copy of every such list shall be kept prominently
displayed near the main entrance door of the court house to which it
relates and another copy shall be kept prominently displayed in
every court room of the court to which it relates.
Exclusion of touts 
from law courts. 
Added by: 
I. 1947.2. 
Amended by: 
L.N. 148 of 1975.
45. (1) Any of the judges or any magistrate may, by general or
special order, exclude from any part of the law court and from the
precincts of any court house any person whose name is included in
any such list, except when such person is a party to or witness in
proceedings in such court, when he shall be allowed to remain only
for such time as is necessary to transact his business therein.
Enforcement.
member of the Police force to enforce every order made by any of
the judges or by any magistrate in accordance with sub-article (1)
and for that purpose shall be entitled if necessary to remove from
any part of any law court and from its precincts any person who is
present therein in contravention of any such order as aforesaid.
Restriction of 
employment of 
touts. 
Added by: 
I.1947.2. 
Amended by: 
XIII. 1983.5.
46. (1) No advocate, legal procurator or notary public shall
employ as a clerk or as a secretary or in any other capacity
whatsoever any person whose name at the time of initial
employment or within one year previously appears or appeared on
any list issued under article 44; and no advocate, legal procurator
or notary public shall retain in any employment whatsoever for
more than eighteen consecutive days from the date of publication in
the Gazette of the list concerned any employee whose name,
16               CAP. 10. ħ               CODE OF POLICE LAWS
subsequently to his initial employment, appears on any list issued
under article 44.
Penalty.      
Cap. 9.
(2) Any advocate or legal procurator or notary public who fails
to comply with any of the provisions contained in sub-article (1)
shall be punishable with a fine ( multa ) not exceeding twenty-five
liri in respect of each default and concurrently, where applicable,
by a fine in terms of  article  377(3) of the Criminal Code.
Sanctions. 
Added by: 
I.1947.2. 
Amended by: 
XIII. 1983.5;
VIII. 1990.3.
47.   (1) Any person who - 
( a ) offends against the provisions contained in article 43;
or
( b ) contravenes any exclusion order made against him
under sub-article (1) of article 45; or
( c ) resists any marshal of the court or any member of the
Police force when such marshal or member of the
Police force, in pursuance of the authority conferred
by sub-article (2) of article 45, is engaged in removing
him from any part of any law court or from its
precincts,
shall be liable to a fine ( multa ) of not more than twenty-five liri or
to imprisonment for not longer than three months or to both such
fine and such imprisonment without prejudice to any heavier
penalty that may be applicable under any other provision of law.
Jurisdiction. (2) Any offence against any provision contained in this Part
shall, irrespectively of the punishment applicable thereto, be within
the jurisdiction of the Courts of Magistrates sitting as a court of
criminal judicature.
PART IV 
O F  V EHICLES
Articles 48 to 94 deleted by XXIII. 2000.30).
Amended by:
II. 1880.10.
PART V
O F  I NHABITED  A REAS,  H OUSES AND OTHER  T ENEMENTS
Licence to act as 
mason. 
Amended by: 
II.1880.10; 
VI.1881.1; 
VI. 1949.2; 
II.1974.2; 
VIII.1990.3.
95. (1) It shall not be lawful to exercise the trade of mason
without a licence from the Director of Public Works.
Qualifications for 
obtaining licence.
 (2) Such licence shall not be granted except to persons of good
conduct who shall have proved their skill in an examination to be
conducted by the Masons Board constituted under article 96.
   CODE OF POLICE LAWS        ġ CAP. 10.             17
(3) Licences issued under this article shall be valid for twelve
months to be reckoned from the 1st day of January of the year in
which they are issued but they may be renewed by the Director of
Public Works for subsequent periods not exceeding twelve months
each.
(4) Every mason applying for a licence under this article, shall
produce to the Director of Public Works a recent and suitable
photograph in duplicate, of himself; one of the photographs shall be
affixed to the licence.
(5) The Director of Public Works may withdraw or refuse the
renewal of a licence of any mason whenever he is satisfied that
such mason has not worked in that capacity for a period of nine
consecutive months or for different periods in any one year which
cumulatively amount to nine months: in the case of any withdrawal
of or refusal to renew a licence under this sub-article, however, the
licence shall be returned to the mason if the latter undertakes to
work forthwith in that capacity.
Execution of any 
one work to 
constitute the 
exercise of trade of 
mason.
(6) For the purposes of this article, any person executing even
one single work appertaining to the trade of mason, shall be
deemed to exercise such trade.
Power of court to 
interdict mason 
from exercise of 
trade.
(7) If any mason, through unskilfulness, imprudence or
carelessness, shall, in the construction of any work entrusted to
him, and appertaining to his trade, cause any injury to any person
or property, it shall be lawful for the Court of Magistrates to
interdict such mason from the exercise of his trade for any time to
be stated in the sentence, ordering, at the same time, the withdrawal
of the licence.
Constitution of 
Masons Board. 
Added by: 
II.1974.3.
96. (1) There shall be a Board, to be called the Masons Board,
to examine such persons as shall apply for the licence of mason. 
(2) Such Board shall consist of not less than three persons
appointed from time to time by the Minister responsible for public
works, one of whom shall be appointed chairman by the said
Minister.
(3) Not less than two of the members of the said Board shall be
architects and civil engineers.
18               CAP. 10. ħ               CODE OF POLICE LAWS
Rules to be 
observed in the 
construction of 
houses. 
Amended by: 
XVII.1893.6 to 15;
IV.1912.1,2; 
XV.1919.2; 
XIX.1926.6; 
XVI.1931.2
to 20; 
XXIX.1935.2; 
XXVI.1937.2; 
XVI.1946.2, 3. 4; 
I.1959.8; 
V.1960.3; 
III. 1962.2; 
L.N. 4 of 1963; 
L.1974.3; 
XL.1975.2; 
LV. 1975.2; 
XIII.1976.2.
Revoked by:
XXVII. 2001.48.
Re-enacted by:
III. 2002.157.
97. (1) In the construction of any house or part of a house, the
owner as well as the mason and the architect employed thereon,
shall, unless otherwise provided by any regulations made under
article 102, observe the rules contained in the following
paragraphs:
( a )       (i) in every wall, or where the wall has the cavity
prescribed in paragraph ( b ), in the internal and in
the external face of such wall, there shall be a
layer of asphalt, sheets of lead, vitrified bricks, or
any other substance impervious to dampness,
approved by the General Services Board or
prescribed in the said regulations;
 (ii)  the upper surface of such layer shall be at least ten
centimetres above the level of the street, if the
wall be adjacent to a street, or of the courtyard, if
it be adjacent to a courtyard or at the level of the
floor under the pavement, if any, of the room on
the ground-floor, in the case of an internal wall;
(iii) any wall between two rooms, on the ground floor,
the floors of which are not on the same level,
shall, moreover, have a layer of any of the said
substances, at the level of the floor of the lower
room; and such wall shall, from the said layer to
the upper surface of the floor of the room situate at
the higher level or of the floor of the ventilated
underground place, if any, under such room, on the
side of it towards the one or the other room, as the
sanitary authority shall, according to circum-
stances, direct, be covered with asphalt or other
substance approved by the General Services Board
or prescribed in the said regulations;
( b )      (i)  every wall of any room, exposed to the rain, shall
be of such thickness as the Minister responsible
for public works may from time to time establish
by order under this paragraph and, towards the
middle of its thickness, there shall be left
throughout its extent from the level of the room at
ground floor or, if there is a cellar, from the floor
of such cellar, up to the last course of the said wall
a cavity of eight centimetres crossed only for
solidity of the wall, and closed on the last course
with a layer of asphalt, sheets of lead, vitrified
bricks or any other substance impervious to
dampness approved by the General Services
Board, or with stone covered with such substance; 
        (ii)  in the external face of such wall, there shall be
such holes as the sanitary authority shall deem
necessary for the passage of air into the said
cavity;
       (iii)  as regards one of the faces of the said wall, the
bonds, if they are not of iron, or other substance
impervious to dampness approved by the General
   CODE OF POLICE LAWS        ġ CAP. 10.             19
Services Board, shall be introduced into grooves
in the stones of such face; and the surface of the
grooves, or of such parts of the bonds as are
introduced into them, shall be covered with
asphalt or other impervious substance approved by
the General Services Board;
       (iv)  the said cavity, however, shall not be necessary,
where, towards the middle of the thickness of the
wall, there is introduced or applied throughout the
extent of such wall, hydraulic cement-concrete or
other impervious substance approved by the
General Services Board, save, as regards the
bonds, the observance of the last preceding
provision; and, in any such case, the thickness of
the wall may be reduced to sixty centimetres;
        (v)  stone used in the building of any wall shall not
exceed those dimensions as the said Minister may
from time to time establish by order under this
paragraph;
       (vi)  the said Minister may grant exemption from
compliance with or permit departures from any
provision of any order made by him under this
paragraph, either with respect to any building or to
any class or group of buildings, under such
conditions as he may deem fit to impose;
   ( c ) (i)  the surface of the floor of any room on the ground-
floor, not including the pavement, shall be at least
fifteen centimetres higher than the level of the
courtyard and of the level of the nearest street;
(ii)  in any inclined street, such height shall be
measured from the central line of the frontage, and
if any portion thereof be below the prescribed
height, such portion shall be separated from the
street, as provided in article 108(2)( d );
(iii)  the floor itself, if it has no ventilated underground
place of a height of at least sixty centimetres, shall
be formed or covered with a layer of asphalt,
hydraulic cement-concrete, or other substance
impervious to dampness approved by the General
Services Board, the upper surface of which shall
be in continuation of the impervious layer of the
walls of the room; and if the room has any such
underground place, there shall be, in the arches or
pillars supporting the pavement of the room,
immediately under such pavement, a layer of
asphalt, sheets of lead, vitrified bricks, or other
substance impervious to dampness approved by
the General Services Board;
( d )  every room shall, from the floor to the beams
supporting the roof, or, if the roof be supported by
arches, to half the height of each arch, be at least two
20               CAP. 10. ħ               CODE OF POLICE LAWS
point seven five metres high, in every part of it; 
( e )  every part of a house shall be constructed in such a
manner as to secure, in the opinion of the sanitary
authority, sufficient light and a free circulation of air;
and there shall be in every room and in the place of the
privy, such ventilators as the sanitary authority may
consider necessary for the renewal of the air, even with
doors and windows closed;
( f )     (i)  the cistern required under paragraph ( n )(viii), shall
be made to communicate with the roof of the
house, by means of pipes sufficient for the passage
of the rain-water falling on the said roof: none of
such pipes shall be used to act as a ventilator of
any privy, sewer, or cesspool, septic tank or
sewage treatment and disposal plant; and no
overflow pipe or conduit, for the carrying off of
the water exceeding the capacity of the cistern,
shall be connected with any sewer or cesspool,
septic tank or sewage treatment and disposal plant,
nor shall any other pipe or conduit for the carrying
off of rain-water be, without the permission of the
sanitary authority, communicated with any part of
the house, so as such rain-water may find its way
from such part of the house into a sewer;
        (ii)  the roof of any house shall be paved with such
materials and drained in such a manner as to
prevent the stagnation of water on such roof or the
percolation of water into any part of the house;
( g )    (i)  every house shall be provided with a privy and
such privy shall be communicated with the public
sewer:
                          Provided that the Superintendent of Public Health
may exempt any owner from communicating the
privy with the public sewer under the condition
that the owner provides, in respect of that house, 
( a )    a cesspool, or 
( b )  a septic tank, or
( c )  a sewage treatment and disposal plant, 
at the option of, and under such conditions as may
be imposed by, the said Superintendent;
        (ii)  where the privy is at a lower level than the public
sewer, the owner of the house shall provide means
of pumping or lifting the material towards the
public sewer;
       (iii)  the privy, cesspool, septic tank or sewage
treatment and disposal plant, as well as their
conduit, shall be constructed in such manner, with
such materials, in such parts of the house or so
distant from the house, and with such traps or
other means to prevent any exhalations or
   CODE OF POLICE LAWS        ġ CAP. 10.             21
infiltrations as the superintendent may, in any
case, direct;
       (iv)  in the case of a shop, this paragraph shall not
apply if the Superintendent of Public Health is
satisfied that it is impracticable to provide it with
a privy.
     For the purposes of this paragraph, of sub-article (2) and of
article 102(2) - 
Cap. 197.
    "house" includes any premises used, or intended to be
used, either wholly or partially for habitation purposes, or
for purposes of animal husbandry, any hotel or catering
establishment as defined in the Hotels and Catering
Establishments Act, and any shop other than a stall or a
kiosk;
  "owner" shall not include a person holding the house
under temporary emphyteusis for a period of not more than
seventeen years;
( h )    (i)  every sink, wash-basin, bath or other similar
appliance shall be of the proper pattern and
material and shall not communicate directly with
the drains but shall be provided with a waste pipe
made to discharge on a gully-trap situated in the
open air and connected with regular drains;
        (ii) it shall be lawful for the Superintendent of Public
Health to allow the waste pipe of any sink,
washbasin, bath or other similar appliance to
discharge in any other manner which he may
consider suitable in any particular case;
( i )  the pipes or conduits for communication with the public
sewer, with a cesspool, with a septic tank or with a sewage
treatment and disposal plant shall be formed of glazed
stoneware or other impervious substance approved by the
General Services Board; such pipes or conduits shall be at
such a distance from the cistern as the sanitary authority
may deem necessary for the prevention of exhalations or
infiltrations; and they shall, as far as practicable, be laid in
such a manner as to allow of their being, without much
difficulty, opened by a mason;
( j )  the privies shall have ventilators made in such a manner as,
in the opinion of the sanitary authority, will prevent
exhalations;
( k )  every sink, wash-basin, bath or other similar appliance
mentioned in paragraph ( h ), shall also have ventilators as
provided in the last preceding paragraph, if the sanitary
authority shall deem such ventilators to be necessary for
preventing exhalations;
( l )       (i)  no external wall of any house adjacent to a new
street shall be of a height, measured from the
surface of such street, greater than twice the width
of the street;
22               CAP. 10. ħ               CODE OF POLICE LAWS
          (ii)  nor shall any internal wall be raised to a height,
measured from the said surface, greater than twice
the distance between such wall and the wall
existing or which may be erected on the border of
the opposite side of the said street;
         (iii)  the provisions of this paragraph shall also apply to
any house adjacent to any other street whether
such house is a new building or whether any new
storey is erected thereon:
         Provided that in any such case the height of the
walls may be three times the said width or distance
respectively;
         (iv)  the provisions of this paragraph shall not apply to
any church, or other building constructed and
perpetually destined for divine worship, or to any
public building, or to any other work constructed
and destined for the defence of Malta;
( m )  saving the provisions of paragraph ( g ), the cesspool of any
house or building shall be made or re-made, placed and
ventilated in accordance with the directions which shall, in
each case, be given by the Superintendent of Public Health,
or be generally established by regulations made under
article 102;
( n )      (i)  every house shall have at its back a court-yard
exclusively belonging to it; and such court-yard
shall be of the length of the wall of such house,
and of a width not less than three metres, or half
the height of the house, if such house be higher
than six metres; one privy or more privies, one
above the other, may be constructed in any such
court-yard; but in any such case the surface of the
court-yard shall be enlarged in proportion to the
space thus occupied;
          (ii)  nevertheless, if the yard of a house be at the back
of the yard of another house, the minimum width
of each of such yards may be reduced to not less
than two-thirds of the width as aforesaid, provided
the width of the two yards together be not less than
six metres, and provided the owners of the yards in
question bind themselves by a notarial deed to be
registered in the Public Registry by the notary by
whom the deed has been received, not to raise the
wall separating the yards to a height exceeding
three point five metres from the surface of the
yards or of the higher yard if the yards are not at
the same level; and whosoever shall at any time
raise, or keep raised, any such wall to a greater
height shall be guilty of a contravention against
this Code;
         (iii)  if the width of the yard corresponds to one or more
storeys, in accordance with the foregoing rules,
   CODE OF POLICE LAWS        ġ CAP. 10.             23
the sanitary authority will permit the construction
of new storeys, provided that, on the upper storey
already constructed, in contiguity to the yard,
there be left an open space with an iron fence
towards the yard, of a width not less than one-half
the height of the new storey;
         (iv) the foregoing provisions of this paragraph shall
not apply to such houses as are situate at the
corner of two streets or between two streets,
provided that, in the latter case, at least one of the
two streets be of a width not less than one-half of
the height of the building or be adjacent to the sea-
shore;
          (v)  it shall be lawful for the competent authority to
dispense with the formation of a yard as provided
in the foregoing rules, where the site on which the
building is to be erected, be of a width so small as
not to allow the formation of such yard, and where
each of the rooms and the stairs of the building be
directly lighted at least through a window opening
on the public street or any other open space;
         (vi) if, owing to the configuration of the site on which
the house is to be constructed, the yard cannot be
of the prescribed length or width, the
Superintendent of Public Health may permit a
smaller length or width, provided, in his opinion,
such smaller length or width, having regard to the
particular circumstances of the place, is sufficient
to secure such light and ventilation as are required
for the wholesome condition of the house;
        (vii) the yard or yards of any house shall be paved and
drained in the manner prescribed in the regulations
made under article 102;
        (viii)  every house shall also have a cistern in good
condition, of a capacity of at least three cubic
metres, for every five square metres of the surface
of the floor of each room of such house;
( o )      (i)  thirty days at least before the commencement of
the building or re-building of any house, or part of
a house, or, in the case of the communication of a
privy with the public sewer, before such
communication is covered up, the architect or
mason, or the owner, shall give notice thereof to
the Superintendent of Public Health, together with
a drawing of the work proposed to be carried out;
          (ii)  where, in the opinion of the Superintendent of
Public Health, the work proposed to be carried out
is such as to require technical direction in order to
prevent, during or after the execution of the work,
injury to property or danger to the men employed
on the work or to passers-by or other persons, it
24               CAP. 10. ħ               CODE OF POLICE LAWS
shall be lawful for the said Superintendent of
Public Health to require a written declaration by
an architect assuming the direction and
responsibility of the work, saving in all cases any
civil or criminal liability of any other person,
according to law;
         (iii)  the Superintendent of Public Health shall, upon
the demand of the architect, mason, or owner,
within thirty days, from the delivery of the
drawing, or forty days, if the matter has to be
considered by the General Services Board,
communicate to him the approval or disapproval
thereof by the sanitary authority;
         (iv)  in all cases it shall not be lawful for any person to
commence any work before the approval of the
sanitary authority shall have been communicated
to him in writing within the aforesaid time, or,
during the execution of the work, to depart,
without the sanction of the Superintendent of
Public Health, from the plan as approved by the
sanitary authority;
          (v)  such approval shall be deemed to be null and void
if any information or specification contained in the
said notice or in the drawing accompanying it is
proved to be inaccurate or misleading;
         (vi) it shall be lawful for any official of the
Department of Health, in the course or after the
completion of the work, to inspect the place in
order to ascertain whether the work, both as
regards the materials used and the mode of its
execution, conforms to the provisions of the law or
regulations;
( p )  on the application of the architect in charge of the building
or re-building of a house for an exemption in respect of
such house from the provisions of paragraph ( l ) or of
paragraph ( n )(i), the Superintendent of Public Health may -
          (i)  in any case not specified in paragraph ( n )(v) and
(vi); and 
         (ii) if the General Services Board consider that such
an exemption may be granted without detriment to
the wholesome condition of the house or of other
houses in its vicinity,
exempt such house from any or all of those provisions,
subject to such conditions as he thinks fit, and no appeal
shall lie from a decision of the Superintendent of Public
Health under this paragraph;
( q )    (i) this paragraph applies to any house the height of
which, measured from the lowest damp proof
course to the highest point of the house, exceeds
twenty-four metres;
   CODE OF POLICE LAWS        ġ CAP. 10.             25
        (ii)  before the commencement of the building or re-
building of any house to which this paragraph
applies, the architect in charge shall submit to the
Director of Public Works plans and specifications
together with such other particulars relating to the
building or re-building of the house as may be
required by the Director of Public Works, who
shall advise the Superintendent of Public Health in
writing whether he is satisfied that the house when
built or re-built, as the case may be, in accordance
with such plans, specifications and particulars will
be stable and safe; 
       (iii)  the advice of the Director of Public Works given
under the last preceding sub-paragraph shall not
affect the liability of the architect or of any other
person in respect of the stability or safety of the
house;
       (iv)  the provisions of this paragraph shall be in
addition to, and not in derogation of, any of the
provisions of this Part applicable to houses, and in
particular but without prejudice to the generality
of the foregoing, the provisions of paragraph ( o )
shall apply to any house to which this paragraph
applies as if the reference to the specification and
drawing contained in sub paragraph (v) thereof
included a reference to the plans, specifications
and any particulars referred to in sub-paragraph
(ii), and as if the reference to any official of the
Department of Health contained in sub-paragraph
(vi) thereof included a reference to any official of
the Public Works Department:
                       Provided that the times mentioned in
paragraph ( o )(i) and (iii) shall not run in any case
to which this paragraph applies.
(2) When any house is to be connected with the public sewer in
accordance with the provisions of sub-article (1)( g ), the Director of
Public Works may, if he deems it fit and practicable, lay the
connection between the public sewer and the intercepting chamber
relative to such house, and the owner of such house shall, within
thirty days of an intimation by the said Director, pay to the latter
such connection fee as the Minister responsible for public works
may establish by regulations made under this sub-article, and, in
default of payment within the said term of thirty days, interest shall
be due by the said owner at the rate of six per cent  per annum  as
from the date of intimation.
(3) Where, pursuant to regulations made under article 102(2),
the Director of Public Works or any other person has carried out
any works for or in connection with the provisions of sub-article
(1)( g ) and such works are carried out for or in the interest of other
persons liable to carry out the same works in accordance with the
said paragraph ( g ), the said Director or other person who will have
carried out the above works shall have a privileged claim in his
26               CAP. 10. ħ               CODE OF POLICE LAWS
favour on the property in respect of which the works will have been
carried out for the amount due to him in accordance with any
regulations made as aforesaid, provided such claim is registered in
the Public Registry within two months from the completion of the
works, and such privileged claim shall have priority over all other
claims, whether privileged or hypothecary, on such property,
notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary.
Cutting of  franka  
stone. 
Added by: 
LV. 1975.3.
98.  No person shall cut, or cause or allow to be cut, from any
quarry any  franka  stone of any dimension exceeding those, or any
of those which the Minister responsible for public works may from
time to time establish by order under this article:
Provided that the said Minister may permit any person,
under such conditions as the said Minister may deem fit to impose,
to cut  franka  stone of different dimensions.
Artificial lighting 
and mechanical 
ventilation. 
Added by:
XXVI. 1937.3. 
Amended by: 
L.N. 4 of 1963; 
XXXI. 1967.37; XI. 
1977.2; 
XIII. 1983.5.
99. (1) It shall be lawful for the Minister responsible for
public health to permit any part of a building which the
Superintendent of Public Health considers may be so constructed to
be furnished with suitable means of artificial lighting and a suitable
system of mechanical ventilation according to such conditions as
shall be imposed in the permit.
System to be 
continuously 
operated while 
premises are 
occupied.
(2) The owner of any such building shall cause the said system
of mechanical ventilation to be continuously used and operated
while the premises are occupied, and if he makes default in this
respect or fails at any time to comply with any of the conditions
imposed in the permit, he shall be liable for every such offence to a
fine ( multa ) of five liri, and in the case of a continuing offence, to a
further fine of two liri for each day the offence continues.
Applicability of 
certain provisions 
of s.97 to houses 
constructed before 
1st January, 1880. 
Amended by: 
XVI.1931.21; 
XXIX. 1935.3; 
L. 1974.4.
100. (1) The provisions contained in article 97(1)( f ),   ( g ),   ( h ),
( i ),   ( j ),   ( k ),   ( m ) and ( n )(vii) shall apply also to houses existing
before the first of January, eighteen hundred and eighty.
(2) The provisions of paragraph ( e ) of the said article, shall
likewise apply to such houses, whenever the rooms or the stairs
can, without being entirely demolished, be made to conform to
those provisions, and the cost, in the opinion of an architect
appointed by the Director of Public Works, does not exceed the rent
or the letting value of the tenement for one year; in any such case
the owner may carry out the necessary work over a period of four
years, provided the work can be so divided, and in each year he
performs as much of it as can be done with at least one-fourth of
the rent or letting value, commencing and prosecuting the work
according to the directions of the said architect:
Provided that the owner may demand that the work be
carried out by the Director of Public Works, upon paying to the
latter in advance a sum equal to the estimate made by the said
architect, without any obligation to pay any supplement, should
that sum prove insufficient, or any right to reimbursement, should
it exceed the expense actually incurred.
   CODE OF POLICE LAWS        ġ CAP. 10.             27
(3) It shall be lawful for the Superintendent of Public Health at
any time to order any of the provisions of sub-articles (1) and (2)
and of any regulations made under article 102 to apply, as far as
may be practicable, to any house or part of a house referred to
therein.
(4) The provisions contained in article 97, with the exception
of sub-article (1)( l ) thereof, shall apply to such houses, so far as
regards any part thereof which may have to be reconstructed, unless
the observance of such provisions is dispensed with by the sanitary
authority.
Rules as to houses 
constructed after 
1st January, 1880.
Added by: 
XVI.1931.22. 
Amended by: 
XXIX. 1935.4.
101. (1) The owner of any house constructed after the first of
January eighteen hundred and eighty, shall constantly keep such
house in conformity with the plan originally approved by the
Superintendent of Public Health, without making any addition or
alteration thereto except with the written approval of the said
Superintendent.
(2) It shall be lawful for the Superintendent of Public Health at
any time to order any such house or part of such house to be made
to conform, as far as may be practicable, to any other provision of
this Code or of any regulation made under article 102.
Power of Minister 
responsible for 
public health to 
make regulations. 
Amended by: 
XVI.1931.23,24; 
XXIX.1935.5; 
I.1959.8;
L.N.4 of 1963; 
L. 1974.5; 
XI.1977.2.
102. (1)  The Minister responsible for public health may, on the
advice of the General Services Board, make regulations respecting
the manner in which the provisions contained in articles 97 and 100
are to be carried out, and the materials to be used.
(2) Saving the provision of sub-article (1), the Minister
responsible for public works may make regulations to provide - 
( a ) for facilities to be made in favour of owners of houses
to comply with the provisions of article 97(1)( g );
( b ) for empowering the Director of Public Works to make
arrangements and enter into agreements with the said
owners in respect of such facilities, including the
contribution, if any, by the Government of part of the
expenditure involved in such compliance;
( c ) for establishing the apportionment among the several
owners of the expenditure so involved;
( d ) for empowering any owner of a house who, pursuant to
arrangements made with the Director of Public Works,
shall have laid a part of the public sewer, to claim from
the owner of any other house the privy of which is, or
is to be communicated with such sewer, such portion
of the expenditure incurred by the former owner as
shall be established as aforesaid;
( e ) for any other consequential matter relating or
incidental to such compliance.
Questions to be 
settled by General 
Services Board.
(3) If any question shall arise as to whether a work is in
conformity with any of the said provisions or regulations, such
question shall be settled by the General Services Board.
28               CAP. 10. ħ               CODE OF POLICE LAWS
Appeal to General 
Services Board.
(4) In all cases an appeal shall lie to the General Services
Board from any order or decision of any other sanitary authority,
within one month from the date on which such order or decision
shall have been communicated to the party concerned. If the
General Services Board affirms the order or decision of that
authority, the appellant shall pay to the Superintendent of Public
Health, if extraordinary sittings shall have been held by the General
Services Board, a sum corresponding to the costs, that is, to the fee
due to the members of the Board for each sitting held in respect of
such appeal and to the transport expenses, where any one or more
of such members shall have inspected the place.
Superintendent of 
Public Health may 
refer matter to 
General Services 
Board.
(5) It shall be lawful for the Superintendent of Public Health to
submit for the consideration of the General Services Board any
matter relating to buildings and habitations.
Appeal from 
decision of General 
Services Board.
(6) From any decision of the General Services Board an appeal
shall lie to the Court of Appeal, within one month from the day on
which such decision shall have been notified to the party
concerned; such appeal shall be brought by an application in
contestation with the Superintendent of Public Health.
Criminal liability 
of owner, architect 
or mason. 
Amended by:
XVI. 1931.25; 
XII.1938.3.
103. (1) The owner shall be held responsible for any
contravention of the provisions of articles 97 and 100 or of any
regulations made under the last preceding article unless an architect
or mason has been entrusted with the execution of the work, and the
contravention is not due to an act of the owner, in which case the
architect or mason, or both, as the case may be, shall be held
responsible.
Owner may not 
oppose execution 
of order of court.
(2) In the case of any contravention referred to in sub-article
(1), the provisions of article 321 shall apply against the offender
and it shall not be lawful for the owner to oppose the abatement of
the nuisance or the execution of any other order of the court
although he may not be a party to the proceedings.
Opposition to 
constitute a 
contravention.
(3) Any opposition on the part of the owner to the execution of
any work ordered by the court shall constitute a contravention and
shall be punishable as such according to this Code.
Where work has 
not been carried 
out on account of 
death, etc., of 
owner, etc.
(4) Where any work ordered by a judgment of the court has not
been carried out on account of the death or absence from Malta of
the owner or other party responsible, or on account of such owner
or other party ceasing for any cause whatsoever to own or
administer the property in which the work is to be carried out, the
person succeeding in the ownership or administration of such
property shall be bound to carry out such work as if he were the
person against whom the said judgment was given.
Duty of owner of 
house to free other 
house from 
easement on 
account of conduits 
to sewer. 
Amended by: 
XVI. 1931.26; 
IX. 1982.2.
104. (1) The owner of any house from which the matter going
into the privy, sink, or other drains for slop water, is carried into
the public sewer or a cesspool through conduits formed or laid
under another house, is bound, where practicable in the opinion of
the sanitary authority, to free such other house from such easement
by making other conduits for the carrying of the said matter
directly into such sewer or cesspool, and where the houses belong
   CODE OF POLICE LAWS        ġ CAP. 10.             29
to different owners the total expense shall be apportioned between
the owners as the court shall, in each case, determine.
Duties of owner or 
occupier of upper 
part of house, of 
lower part of 
house,
(2) The owner or occupier of the upper part of a house is bound
to permit the formation, from the lower part of the house up to the
roof of such house, of such ventilators as may be necessary
according to the provisions of article 97, and the owner or occupier
of the lower part is bound to permit the formation, in such part of
the house, of communication pipes or conduits from the upper part
to the public sewer.
of neighbouring 
house.
(3) The owner or occupier of a house is also bound to permit
the ventilators of a neighbouring house to be fixed to the walls of
the former house, in order that such ventilators may be of such
height as the sanitary authority may deem necessary.
Conduits, etc., to 
be formed or fixed 
so as to cause least 
inconvenience.
(4) In all cases, the conduits, pipes, or ventilators shall be
formed or fixed in such a manner as to cause the least possible
inconvenience to the occupier of the house, or part of the house, in
or to which they are formed or fixed, and the least possible
prejudice to such house or part thereof.
Where indemnity 
is payable.
(5) Where the said conduits, pipes, or ventilators do not
diminish the value of the house or of the part of the house in or to
which they are formed or fixed, no indemnity shall be payable
except such as may be due in respect of any repairs which may be
necessary in consequence of the formation or fixing of such
conduits, pipes or ventilators:
Provided that the mere creation of any easement under this
article shall not give rise to any claim for indemnity.
Claim for 
indemnity not to be 
a ground for 
suspension of 
works.
(6) The owner or occupier may in no case demand the
suspension of works above mentioned, on the ground of any
indemnity to which he may be entitled.
Owner of house to 
allow Director of 
Public Works to fix 
ventilators to 
public sewer, to or 
within external 
wall of house. 
Amended by: XVII. 
1893.12; 
I. 1959.8.
105. The owner or occupier of any house is bound to permit the
Director of Public Works to fix to any external wall of such house,
any such ventilator to the public sewer as the General Services
Board may deem necessary, or where, in view of the narrowness of
the street or for any other reason, the said Director deems it so
expedient, to form such ventilator, wholly or in part, within that
wall; in any such case, the provisions of the last preceding article
relating to indemnity shall apply.
Premises unfit for 
habitation. 
Amended by: 
XVI.1931.27. 
Substituted by: 
II.1957.2.
106. It shall not be lawful for the owner to use or suffer to be
used as a dwelling any premises not provided with a regular privy
or which in the opinion of the Superintendent of Public Health are
so unhealthy as to be unfit for habitation:
Provided that non-compliance by the owner with this article
shall not induce or be deemed to have at any time heretofore
induced, as against any tenant or occupier any nullity of the
agreement of tenancy or occupation or entitle the owner to evict the
tenant or occupier unless the Superintendent of Public Health
certifies that the premises cannot be provided with a privy or made
fit for habitation. Nor shall any such non-compliance affect the
owner’s obligations under article 97(1)( g ) or any other provisions
30               CAP. 10. ħ               CODE OF POLICE LAWS
of this Code.
Cellars used for 
habitation.  
Amended by: 
XXIX. 1935.6.
107. It shall not be lawful to use or suffer to be used for
habitation, separately from the building of which it forms part, any
cellar constructed or reconstructed after the first of January
eighteen hundred and eighty, or which, in the course of the year
previous to that date, was not used for habitation:
Provided that it shall not be lawful to use any cellar for
sleeping purposes.
Conditions for the 
occupation of 
cellar as dwellings. 
Amended by: 
XV.1920.3; 
I. 1959.8.
  108. (1) No person shall, except with a licence from the
sanitary authority, use or suffer to be used for habitation, separately
from the building of which it forms part, any cellar, although
constructed before the first of January eighteen hundred and eighty,
and used, up to that time, for habitation.
(2) Such licence shall not be granted unless - 
( a ) the cellar, from the floor to the beams supporting the
roof, or, if the roof be supported by arches, to half the
height of each arch, is not less than two metres high,
with at least one metre above the surface of the
adjacent street; and
( b ) the cellar has its entrance door or at least a window, of
a size not less than one square metre, on the street; and 
( c ) if the cellar consists of two or more rooms, each room
has an entrance door or window, as aforesaid; and 
( d ) between the street and the external wall of the cellar,
along the entire frontage of such wall, from fifteen
centimetres below the surface of the ground of the
cellar up to the surface of the street, there is an entirely
open area, at least thirty centimetres wide and, where
necessary in the opinion of the sanitary authority,
communicated with the public conduits, in order to
avoid any deposit of water in it; - the ground of such
area, as well as the external wall of the cellar to the
height of at least thirty centimetres from the surface of
such ground, are coated with asphalt or any other
substance impervious to dampness approved by the
General Services Board; - such area, in two or more
parts of its length, to be determined by the sanitary
authority, and forming together at least one-half of
such length, is only covered with gratings which, in
the opinion of the said authority, allow the free
passage of air; - every other side of the cellar, not
being in its entirety a wall between the cellar itself and
another room or a court-yard, is, up to not less than ten
centimetres above the upper line of the rock or
materials of such side, formed of, or covered with, any
of the said substances; - in each wall, internal or
external, there is a layer of any such substance, the
upper surface of which is at least twenty-five
millimetres above the surface of the ground of the
cellar; and 
   CODE OF POLICE LAWS        ġ CAP. 10.             31
( e ) the ground of the cellar is covered with a layer of
asphalt, hydraulic cement-concrete or any other
substance approved by the General Services Board, in
continuation of the impervious layer in the walls; and
( f ) the cellar has such ventilators as the sanitary authority
may consider necessary for the renewal of the air, even
with closed doors and windows.
Formation of open 
area between cellar 
dwelling and street 
by Director of 
Public Works. 
Amended by: 
XVII.1893.12; 
XVI.1931.28.
109. (1)  The open area prescribed in sub-article (2)( d ) of the
last preceding article, may be formed in the street, provided the
person applying for permission to the Director of Public Works,
gives his consent for the work to be carried out, at his expense, by
the Director of Public Works, and makes a deposit with the said
Director of a sum corresponding to the estimate, made by three
architects, of whom two shall be appointed by the Director of
Public Works and the other by such person, of the expense
necessary for the formation of such area, for coating it and covering
it up as provided in the said paragraph, for the carrying out of any
work required for the solidity of the street, and for restoring the
surface of the street to the state in which it was before the
commencement of the work, without any obligation on the part of
such person to pay any supplement should that sum prove
insufficient, or any right to reimbursement should it exceed the
expense actually incurred.
(2) The Director of Public Works is not bound to grant the said
permission for any width exceeding thirty centimetres.
Common 
tenement-houses to 
be licensed by 
Superintendent of 
Public Health. 
Amended by: 
XV.1920.4; 
XVI.1931.29, 30; 
I.1959.8.
110. (1) The owner or part owner of a common tenement-
house shall not permit the use for habitation of any room or
apartment in such house without having previously obtained a
licence from the Superintendent of Public Health.
Conditions.
of Public Health is satisfied that such house is in good structural
and hygienic condition, with regular drains and a sufficient number
of sanitary conveniences, and a proper supply of wholesome water.
Duties of owner.
times to keep such house and every part thereof in good structural
and hygienic condition with regular drains and a sufficient number
of sanitary conveniences, and a proper supply of wholesome water,
to the satisfaction of the sanitary authority, and if required by such
authority, to wall up and provide the mouth of the cistern with a
pump with pipes of iron or other substance approved by the General
Services Board.
Common 
tenement-houses 
declared unfit for 
habitation.
(4) No person shall use for habitation any room, apartment or
part of a common tenement-house declared by the sanitary
authority to be unfit for such use.
32               CAP. 10. ħ               CODE OF POLICE LAWS
Number to be 
painted over 
entrance door of 
rooms.
111. (1) The owner of any common tenement-house shall paint
and keep legible, a number over the entrance door of each room or
apartment let, or intended to be let, separately; and every such
room or apartment shall be indicated in the licence by its number.
(2) It shall not be lawful to deface, cancel, or alter the number
of any of such doors.
Number of persons 
who may occupy 
rooms in common 
tenement-houses. 
Amended by: 
XV. 1920.5; 
XVI.1931.31.
112. No room in any common tenement-house or in any
apartment therein shall be used for habitation by a number of
persons in excess of the following limitations, that is to say - 
( a ) where the room has at least the height prescribed in
article 97(1)( d ), there must be a surface of at least
three point seven five square metres for each person
older than seven years, and of two point seven five
square metres for each person of seven years of age or
under; or
( b ) where the room has a lesser height, there must be a
surface of at least four point seven five square metres
and three point seven five square metres respectively.
Presumption  juris 
tantum  against 
persons letting 
cellars, etc.
Amended by: 
XV. 1920.6.
113. (1) For the purposes of the provisions contained in
articles 106, 107, 108, 110, 111 and 112 the person who under any
title whatsoever shall have granted to others the enjoyment of a
cellar, room or apartment, shall be deemed to have permitted the
use thereof for habitation, or for the habitation of a number of
persons greater than that allowed under the last preceding article,
unless it is shown that he has expressly prohibited the tenant or
other grantee from making such use thereof.
(2) In regard to any common tenement-house, such prohibition
shall be deemed to have been made if a notice legibly written
containing such prohibition is posted up on the door.
Power of court in 
case of second or 
subsequent 
conviction.
(3) In the case of a second or subsequent conviction of the
owner, the court may, besides awarding the punishment established
in this Code, order the closing of the cellar, room or apartment for a
period of not less than three months, nor more than one year,
causing, where it deems it expedient, the doors of such cellar, room
or apartment to be barred at his expense.
(4) In regard to a common tenement-house there shall be
deemed to be a second or subsequent conviction, whether the
previous contravention was or was not committed in respect of the
same room or apartment.
Painting of number 
over external 
doors.
114. (1) The owner of any house shall, within seven days of a
notice by the Police, paint over each external door, the number
appertaining to such door, regard being had to the numbers of the
other doors, if any, in the same street; and, where it is necessary to
mark two or more doors with the same number, he shall add to each
repeated number an alphabetical letter, in alphabetical order,
commencing with the first letter; he shall also renew such number
or letter, as the case may be, whenever such number or letter is no
longer easily legible.
   CODE OF POLICE LAWS        ġ CAP. 10.             33
Size of number, 
etc.
(2) Each number or letter shall be of a size not less than that
prescribed by the Police.
Number, etc., not 
to be defaced.
(3) It shall not be lawful to deface or destroy the number or
letter of any door.
Alteration of 
number of street 
doors. 
Amended by: XVII. 
1893.12; L.N. 4 of 
1963.  Publication 
of order 
concerning such 
alteration.
115.   Where, owing to the construction of new houses, or the
opening of new doors, or for any other reason, the Minister
responsible for public works shall order that the numbers of the
doors of houses in any street be altered, or that a new name be
given to a portion of any street, every such order shall be published
in the Gazette either by a Government Notice, or by a notice signed
by the Director of Public Works; and in either case, where the
numbers are altered, such notice shall state the previous numbers of
the doors of the houses, as well as the numbers substituted therefor.
Provisions 
regarding painting 
of number of street 
doors not to apply 
to churches, etc.
116. The provisions of article 114 shall not apply to any church
or other building constructed and perpetually destined for divine
worship.
Duty of owner to 
keep cistern, etc., 
in good repair, 
Amended by: 
II. 1890.4; 
XVI. 1931.32; 
XXIX. 1935.7.
117. (1) The owner of any building shall keep in a good state
of repair, the cistern, privy, sink or drain for slop water, cesspool,
if any, as well as the respective pipes or other means of
communication and the ventilators prescribed by this Code.
and to prevent flow 
or infiltration.
(2) He shall also take all necessary steps to prevent any flow or
infiltration from any privy, sink, or drain for slop water or
cesspool, or from the respective pipes or conduits, and to prevent
any nuisance in his own or in any other tenement.
Expense of 
removing stoppage 
in disconnecting 
syphon trap to rest 
on occupier of 
house.
(3) Nevertheless, the expense of removing any stoppage in the
disconnecting syphon trap or in the pipes connecting the privy with
the main, and of the cleansing of any pipe or drain consequent on
such stoppage, shall be incumbent on the occupier of the house,
unless it is shown that the stoppage existed before he occupied the
house, or that it was due to defective construction, or that the drains
are common to more than one tenement.
Duty of occupier of 
building, etc., to 
keep in good 
condition fence 
over open cistern, 
etc.  
Amended by: 
XI. 1910.4; 
XVI.1931.33.
118. (1) The occupier of any building or other tenement shall
at all times keep in good condition, on any open cistern, well or pit,
a sufficiently solid fence or parapet not less than one metre high.
(2) The occupier of any such building or other tenement shall
in no case remove the fence or parapet, unless such removal is
necessary for drawing more easily water from such cistern, well or
pit, or for any other purpose, and, in any such case, he shall replace
the fence or parapet as soon as any such operation is completed or
interrupted.
34               CAP. 10. ħ               CODE OF POLICE LAWS
Power of Minister 
responsible for 
agriculture to make 
regulations relating 
to the preservation 
of trees. 
Added by: 
XV.1920.7. 
Amended by: 
XIV. 1958; 
L.N. 4 of 1963.
119. The Minister responsible for agriculture may, on the advice
of the Board of Agriculture, make, amend or repeal regulations
relating to the preservation and cultivation of carob trees as well as
of any other kind of trees as the House of Representatives shall, by
resolution, direct.
Damage to external 
part of house. 
Amended by: 
IV.1912.3 . Affixing 
of notices to 
external part of 
house,
120. (1) It shall not be lawful, without the consent of the
owner, or, if the house is occupied by any other person, without the
consent of such other person, to do anything which soils any
external part of the house, or its whitewashing, or to hang or affix
on or to any such part of the house any paper or other thing.
or to any other 
place.
(2) It shall likewise be unlawful to hang or affix any paper or
other thing on or to any place with regard to which an express
prohibition to that effect has been made by the owner or occupier,
as the case may be.
Occupier, etc., to 
keep parts of house 
clean. 
Amended by: 
VI. 1881.2; 
II. 1890.5; 
XVI.1931.34,
35,36; 
XII.1938.4; 
XIV.1958; 
L.N. 4 of 1963; 
II.1968.2; 
XI.1977.2.
121. (1) The occupier of any house or, where there is no
occupier, the owner, shall keep clean all the internal and external
parts of the house.
No person to keep 
accumulation of 
refuse.
(2) (i)  Subject to the provisions of this Code, no person
may throw or dump in any place any refuse or
rubbish or may keep or suffer to be kept in any
place any accumulation of refuse, of rubbish, or of
dirty, polluted or stagnant water, or of sewage,
dung or other foul matter:
        Provided that the provisions of this paragraph
shall not apply to any refuse thrown or dumped by
any scavenger or collector of refuse in the
employment of the Government, in the proper
exercise of his duties, in any place provided for
the purpose by the Superintendent of Public
Health or to any refuse kept in any such place.
 (ii)  No person may dump or keep or suffer to be
dumped any other material in any open space
unless such space is surrounded by a wall at least
two point five metres high and is covered by a
licence, issued by the Commissioner of Police,
who, in granting such licence, may impose any
such conditions as he may deem fit:
      Provided that no such licence shall be granted
unless the dumping of such material forms part of
or is ancillary to the business of the applicant.
   CODE OF POLICE LAWS        ġ CAP. 10.             35
Power of 
Superintendent of 
Public Health to 
order removal, 
destruction, etc., of 
accumulation of 
refuse.
(3) It shall be lawful for the Superintendent of Public Health to
order any such accumulation as, in his opinion, is likely to cause a
nuisance or be injurious to health or become a breeding place or
harbourage for rats, insects or other vermin injurious to health, to
be immediately removed or destroyed or dealt with or treated in
such a manner as to abate the nuisance or prevent injury to health.
Default of 
occupier, etc.,
in complying with 
order of 
Superintendent of 
Public Health. 
Where 
contravention is in 
respect of an open 
space.
(4) If the occupier or owner, as the case may be, fails to comply
with any such order of the said Superintendent, he shall be guilty of
a contravention and the court shall make an order directing such
accumulation to be forthwith destroyed or dealt with or treated to
the satisfaction of the said Superintendent, without any right on the
part of the occupier or owner to compensation, and where the
contravention is in respect of an open space in an inhabited area,
the court may make an order requiring the offender to protect such
space by raising and keeping around it a wall or other suitable
fence not less than two point five metres high.
Where owner of 
open space is 
unknown, etc.
(5) Where the owner of such open space is unknown or absent
from Malta, the court may, on the application of the Police, make
an order empowering the Government to raise such wall or fence
notwithstanding that there has been no conviction against the
owner, and the expense thereby incurred shall be recoverable as a
civil debt.
Power of Minister 
responsible for 
public health to 
make regulations.
(6) The Minister responsible for public health may make
regulations in respect of the following matters:
( a ) for the inspection of houses and other places;
( b ) for the removal from any house or other place of
refuse and rubbish or of any dirty, stagnant or polluted
water, or of sewage, dung or other foul matter;
( c ) for anything connected with the keeping, removal and
disposal of any such matter or liquid;
( d ) for the cleansing of privies and cesspools belonging to
any premises;
( e ) for imposing the duty of such cleansing on the
occupier or owner of such premises; and
( f ) generally, for the proper working of any service that
may be established for any of the above purposes.
Obstruction.
carrying out any of the provisions of this article or of any
regulation made thereunder, the competent court may, on the
application of the Police, issue a warrant, authorizing the use of
force for the carrying out of any of such provisions.
Material for 
composting into 
manure. 
Amended by: 
XV.1920.9; 
XII.1938.5.
122. (1) The Superintendent of Public Health may allow
material for composting into manure to be kept in such places and
for such time and under such conditions as he may consider
necessary for preventing nuisance or injury to health.
36               CAP. 10. ħ               CODE OF POLICE LAWS
Default of 
compliance with 
order of 
Superintendent of 
Public Health.
(2) In default of compliance with any order of the said
Superintendent for preventing nuisance or injury to health, the
person responsible shall be guilty of a contravention, and the
material causing the said nuisance or injury shall be dealt with in
accordance with the provisions of the last preceding article.
Duties of owner 
and manager of 
bathing 
establishment. 
Added by: 
XV.1920.8.
123.  The owner and the manager of any bathing establishment
shall keep in a good state of cleanliness and decency the rooms,
appurtenances, privies, baths and fixtures, furniture, utensils, toilet
requisites, towels and all other linen and clothes used in such
establishment.
Duty of owner or 
occupier to 
whitewash house 
when ordered by 
sanitary authority. 
Amended by:
XV. 1920.10; 
I. 1959.8.
124.  The owner or occupier of any house is bound to whitewash
and purify such house, within a reasonable time, regard being had
to the size of the house, whenever he is so ordered by the sanitary
authority, for preventing or checking the spreading of any disease
which is, in the opinion of the General Services Board, epidemic or
communicable by contagion or infection, saving the right, if any, of
the person defraying the necessary expense, to recover such
expense from the other, according to law.
Prohibition to keep 
animals of the 
bovine species, 
etc., in common 
tenement-houses, 
Amended by: 
XIV.1885.1; 
XI.1910.5; 
XIX. 1926.8; 
XVI. 1931.37,38; 
XXXVII. 1937.2.
125. ( Repealed by XXV. 2001.50. )
Prohibition to keep 
animals of the 
bovine species, 
etc., in certain 
localities, without 
licence of sanitary 
authority.  Amended 
by:
XIV. 1885.2; 
XI.1910.5; 
XV.1920.11,12; 
XVI.1931.39,40,
41;
XII.1938.6; 
XIV. 1958.4; 
I.1959.8; 
XXV. 1962; 
L.N. 4 of 1963; 
XI. 1977.2.
126. (1) No person shall, without a licence from the sanitary
authority, the duration of which shall not exceed one year, keep on
any premises within the limits mentioned in sub-article (2) of the
last preceding article, any animal of the bovine species, or any pig,
goat, sheep, horse, mule or donkey.
Conditions of 
licence.
(2) The sanitary authority shall not grant any licence for the
keeping of any of such animals in any cellar within the said limits;
or for the keeping of any such animal in any other place within such
limits, unless the floor thereof is of hard stone, asphalt or any other
impervious material, and is connected with the public sewer in a
manner approved by the sanitary authority and unless such place is
provided with such ventilators as the sanitary authority may
consider necessary.
Power of 
Superintendent of 
Public Health.
(3) The Superintendent of Public Health may refuse to grant or
renew any such licence whenever, in his opinion, the keeping of
any of the said animals may cause a nuisance.
   CODE OF POLICE LAWS        ġ CAP. 10.             37
Power of Minister 
responsible for 
public health to 
extend application 
of this article.
(4) The Minister responsible for public health may from time to
time, on the advice of the General Services Board, direct, by means
of a notice published in the Gazette, that all or any of the
provisions of this article shall apply to any other locality not
mentioned in sub-article (2) of the last preceding article.
Prohibition to keep 
sheep-pens etc., in 
certain localities, 
Amended by: 
XIV. 1885.3;
XIII. 1913.2;
XV. 1920.13; 
XVI. 1931.42.
127. ( Repealed by XXV. 2001.50. )
Chimneys, ovens 
or forges.
Amended by: 
XXIX. 1935.8.
128. It shall not be lawful -
( a ) to construct any chimney, oven, or forge, against a
party wall, even though such party wall be entirely
one’s own, between tenements belonging to different
owners;
( b ) to construct or make use of any oven, hearth, or forge,
in any place from which, owing to the absence of a
chimney for the emission of the smoke on to the roof
of the building, such smoke might pass into the street
or into a neighbouring house, or to use such oven,
hearth or forge in such a way as to cause a nuisance or
annoyance to the neighbours;
Manufacture of 
fireworks.
( c ) to manufacture any fireworks in any house situate in
an inhabited area, or, without the consent of the
occupiers of the neighbouring houses, in any other
house situate elsewhere;
Combustible 
materials in cellars.
( d ) to keep any combustible materials in any cellar, near
any window or other aperture thereof, towards the
street;
Lighting of fire in 
fields.
( e ) to light any fire in one’s own field, in the vicinity of
some other field belonging to another person, in which
there is any combustible produce.
Ovens, chimneys, 
etc., to be kept 
clean.
129.  Any person keeping an oven, chimney, or factory in which
fire is used, shall keep such oven, chimney or factory clean and in
good condition, so as to avoid all danger of fire.
Offensive trades. 
Licence. 
Amended by:
XVII. 1893.12;
XII.1938.7;
XL. 1949.8.
130. ( Repealed by XXVII. 2001.33. )
Appointment of 
engineers for 
inspection of 
boilers.
Added by:
VII. 1889.2. 
Amended by:
II. 1915.1;
L.N. 4 of 1963; 
XXXI. 1967.37; 
XIII. 1983.5.
131. (1) It shall be lawful for the Minister responsible for
public works to appoint one or more engineers for the inspection
and testing of boilers whatever their use.
38               CAP. 10. ħ               CODE OF POLICE LAWS
Power of engineer. (2) Any engineer so appointed may after giving two days’
notice enter any building in order to inspect any such boiler.
Periodical 
inspections.
(3) Inspections shall be made half yearly, in the second and
fourth quarter of each year, or at such other periods as may be
prescribed by the Minister responsible for public works.
Fees for 
inspections.
(4) The fee for each inspection shall not exceed one lira, and
shall be paid by the owner or user of the boiler.
 Definition of 
"boiler".
(5) For the purposes of this article, the word "boiler" means
any closed vessel used for generating steam, or for heating water or
other liquids, or into which steam is admitted for heating, steaming,
boiling, or other similar purposes.
Operation of 
steam-boilers 
on land. 
Added by: 
XI.1910.6. 
Amended by: 
L.N. 4 of 1963.
132.   No steam-boiler shall be operated on land except under the
constant supervision of a person duly licensed to act as an engine-
driver, in accordance with such regulations as shall, from time to
time, be made by the Minister responsible for public works.
Power of Police 
etc., to inspect 
premises. 
Amended by: 
VI. 1881.3; 
L.N. 4 of 1963.  
Power of court.
133. It shall be lawful for the Police, the sanitary authority, or
any person appointed by the competent Minister, at any time, with
the least possible inconvenience to the occupier, according to
circumstances, to visit any house or other building or tenement, in
order to ascertain that the provisions of this Part, or of the
regulations made by a Minister are observed, and the court may,
where necessary, issue a warrant authorizing the use of force, for
the opening of any door:
Provided that any such warrant shall not be executed before
notice thereof shall have been given, even orally, to the occupier of
the house, building or tenement, not later than the day previous to
the execution.
Stores. 
Added by: 
VI. 1881.4. 
Amended by: 
XVI.1931.44,45,
46;
XXXIX.1935.9.
134. (1) The Superintendent of Public Health may, in the
construction of any store intended for the preservation of goods or
merchandise or in the construction of any building in any field or
garden, intended for the keeping of animals or agricultural
implements or produce, dispense with the observance of any of the
provisions contained in this Code or of any regulation made under
article 102, excepting the provisions of article 97(1)( o ), provided
such store or building is constructed on the ground level only.
(2) Such store or building shall not, either wholly or in part, be
used for habitation or for any other purpose than those above-
mentioned.
(3) Any owner or other administrator who shall let such store
or building for habitation or for any other purpose than those above
mentioned or who shall in any other manner suffer such store or
building to be so used, shall be guilty of a contravention against
this Code.
   CODE OF POLICE LAWS        ġ CAP. 10.             39
PART VI
O F  C EMETERIES AND OF THE  I NTERMENT OF  D EAD  B ODIES *
Construction of 
cemeteries. 
Amended by:
XV. 1920.15.
 135.  It shall not be lawful to construct any cemetery without a
licence from the sanitary authority.
Distance to be 
observed in the 
construction of 
cemeteries. 
Amended by: 
XVII. I893.14; 
VIII. I932.2; 
XXXIII. 1946.2; 
I.1959.8.
136. (1) No cemetery shall be constructed at a distance less
than one hundred and eighty-three metres from any house intended
for habitation:
Provided that where, notwithstanding such distance, there
may be a danger to public health or a nuisance to the neighbours,
such distance shall be increased, and where considered expedient in
the particular circumstances of a given case such distance shall be
reduced, in each case as the General Services Board shall direct.
Power of 
Superintendent of 
Public Health to 
allow extension of 
existing 
cemeteries.
(2) Nevertheless, it shall be lawful for the Superintendent of
Public Health to allow an extension of any cemetery constructed
before the first of January nineteen hundred and thirty-two,
although the distance of any such cemetery or of such extension
from any house intended for habitation be less than that mentioned
in sub-article (1), if he considers such extension to be necessary for
the exigencies of the district.
Boundary-walls 
and upkeep of 
cemeteries.
137.  Any person having the charge of a cemetery shall surround
such cemetery with a wall or other sufficient fence, to a height of at
least three metres from the ground and shall keep such cemetery
and the buildings, walls, or other fences thereof in good condition.
Unlawful entry 
into cemetery.
138.  It shall not be lawful to enter into any cemetery without
the permission of the person in charge.
Damage to 
cemeteries.
139.   It shall not be lawful to destroy or injure any building,
wall, or fence belonging to a cemetery, or affix to any such
building, wall, or fence any paper or other thing, or destroy or
deface any monument, tablet, inscription, gravestone, tree, or plant
within the cemetery, or do any other wilful damage therein.
Playing, and 
discharge of fire-
arms in cemeteries.
140.   It shall not be lawful to play at any game or sport, or
discharge any fire-arm, save at a military funeral, in any cemetery,
or disturb any person who is lawfully in any cemetery for the
purpose of burying any dead body therein.
Burials.
permission of the Police.
Exhumation of 
dead bodies. 
Amended by: 
X.1859.2; 
I.1920.3.
142.   It shall not be lawful to exhume any dead body or open
any grave without the permission of the Police.
Time of burial.  
Amended by: 
II. 1880.11.
143. (1) No dead body shall be buried before the lapse of
twenty-four hours of the death, in ordinary cases, or of forty-eight
hours in cases of sudden death; and it shall not be lawful during
* See  also the Burials Ordinance  ( Cap.17 )  and the Addolorata Cemetery Ordinance
( Cap.18 ) .
40               CAP. 10. ħ               CODE OF POLICE LAWS
such time, to place the dead body in such position as to prevent any
possible manifestation of life or the necessary assistance in case of
any such manifestation.
(2) Nevertheless, the Police may permit the burial before the
lapse of the said time on the certificate of a medical practitioner,
that there are signs of putrefaction, or other circumstances
excluding all doubt as to the death of the person.
Burial in 
prohibited places. 
Amended by: 
VIII.1874.1; 
XV.1920.16; 
XLII.1974.2.
144. (1) It shall not be lawful to bury any dead body in any
cemetery wherever situate in which the sanitary authority shall
have prohibited burial, or without such sanitary precautions as may
be prescribed by the sanitary authority.
Burial of persons 
dying of infectious 
disease.
(2) It shall not be lawful to convey to any church or chapel the
body of any person who has died of plague, cholera, smallpox or
typhus fever or such other disease communicable by contagion or
infection as the Superintendent of Public Health may determine.
Burial in church or 
chapel, etc.
(3) It shall not be lawful to bury in any church or chapel or in
the crypt of any church or chapel or in the appurtenances of any
church or chapel the body of any person except with the special
permission of the Superintendent of Public Health which shall be
granted only in exceptional circumstances:
Provided that the provisions of this sub-article shall not
apply to any church, chapel or crypt situated inside the Addolorata
Cemetery.
Exposing dead 
body in state of 
incipient 
putrefaction.
(4) It shall not be lawful to expose, or leave exposed, in any
place accessible to the public, any dead body in a state of incipient
putrefaction.
Mode of burial of 
dead bodies. 
Amended by: 
II. 1880.12.
145. (1) Every dead body shall be buried with such covering
as decorum and decency require.
(2) The dead body, or the coffin containing it, unless it be a
metallic coffin hermetically closed, shall, in the grave, be covered
with earth up to a height of at least forty-five centimetres.
(3) It shall not be lawful to bury, in the common vaults, any
dead body in a coffin of any kind; and every dead body, in such
vaults, shall be covered with earth up to the said height.
(4) If two or more dead bodies be laid in the same common
vault, each of them shall be covered with earth up to a height of at
least twenty-five centimetres, the body last laid being so covered
up to a height of forty-five centimetres.
Power of Police 
and sanitary 
authority in regard 
to inspection of 
cemeteries. 
Amended by: 
XV.1920.17.
146.   It shall be lawful for any officer of the Police or sanitary
authority at all times to enter and inspect any cemetery, for the
purpose of ascertaining whether the provisions contained in the
preceding articles of this Part, and in any regulations made under
the next following article relating to the orderliness of cemeteries,
are properly observed.
   CODE OF POLICE LAWS        ġ CAP. 10.             41
Power of Minister 
responsible for 
public health to 
make regulations. 
Amended by:
L.N. 4 of 1963; 
XI. 1977.2.
147.  The Minister responsible for public health may make
regulations respecting the construction, position and extension of
cemeteries, the mode of burial of dead bodies and, generally, the
orderliness of such places.
PART VII
O F  A QUEDUCTS AND  P UBLIC  F OUNTAINS
Unlawful drawing 
of water from 
aqueduct, etc.
148.   No person shall take away, from any aqueduct, fountain,
cistern, conduit, or other like place, public water, not provided for
the gratuitous use of the public, without the permission of the
officer in charge of the distribution of public waters.
Duty of person 
allowed to take 
water.
149.  Every person allowed to take water by the officer
mentioned in the last preceding article, shall make sure that the
cistern which is to hold the water, and the conduits or tubes
bringing the water to such cistern are not broken or damaged so as
to prevent the water supplied from running considerably to waste.
Duty of avoiding 
damage to water 
works.
150.  Every person shall avoid causing, through his negligence,
the opening, breaking, or injuring of any lock, earthen pipe, tube,
door, or other work of any reservoir or other receptacle of public
water, or any other thing whereby such water shall be wasted.
Fouling of public 
water.
Amended by: 
X. 1957.2.
151. (1) Every person shall avoid causing, through his
negligence, any rubbish, mud, or other noxious or offensive matter
to enter into any fountain, aqueduct, or other like place destined for
the preservation of public water; or any putrid water or other
offensive matter to run into any such fountain, aqueduct or other
place from any cesspool, conduit or other place; or any other thing
whereby public water shall be rendered foul or unwholesome.
(2) No person shall throw or negligently allow to flow any
rubbish, or any polluted or dirty water or any other offensive matter
into the waste-water pit of any public stand-pipe.
PART VIII 
O F  A NIMALS
Articles 152 to 168, both inclusive, were repealed by Act
XXV.2001.50.
PART IX
O F  H OTELS AND OTHER  L ODGING- H OUSES
Articles 169 to 180, both inclusive, were repealed by Act
XXVII.2001.33.
42               CAP. 10. ħ               CODE OF POLICE LAWS
PART X
O F  S HOPKEEPERS AND OTHER  T RADERS
Shopkeepers, 
hawkers and 
pedlars. 
Amended by: 
XIII.1921.4; 
XIX.1926.10; 
VII.1931.2; 
XXXV.1940.2; 
XL.1949.9; 
XIV.1958; 
XXV.1962; 
L.N. 4 of 1963; 
L.N. 46 of 1965.
181. ( Repealed by: XXVII. 2001.33. )
Unlawful to retail 
wine, etc., without 
licence. 
Ord. XIII of 1888 
as amended by 
Ord. VII of 1939, 
XXXIV of 1940 and 
III of 1941, 
incorporated. 
Amended by: 
XL. 1949.11.
182. ( Repealed by: XXVII. 2001.33. )
Duration of licence 
for sale of wine, 
beer or spirituous 
liquor.  Amended 
by: II.1880.16; 
I.1898.1; 
XI.1910.11; 
II.1911.1; 
IV.1912.4; 
XV.1920.19; 
XX.1944.2; 
XXX.1947.2; 
XL.1949.12; 
XIV.1958; 
XXV.1962; 
L.N. 4 of 1963; 
XVI.1966.2; 
XXXIII.1974.2.
183. (1) It shall be lawful for the Minister responsible for the
Police to make regulations respecting the grant and cancellation of
licences for the sale of wine, beer or spirituous liquor and
respecting the sale of non-intoxicants, and for limiting the number
of licences according to circumstances.
Power of Minister 
responsible for 
Police to make 
regulations 
respecting good 
order in shops.
(2) It shall also be lawful for the Minister responsible for the
Police to make regulations for securing the maintenance of order
and public decorum in or about shops licensed for the sale of wine,
beer or spirituous liquor, or for the sale of non-intoxicants and in or
about such restaurants or eating-houses as are not included in the
class of shops above mentioned.
Opening and 
closing hours of 
shops. 
Amended by: 
III. 1868.4; 
XI. 1910.12; 
I.1920.4; 
XL.1949.13; 
XIV.1958; 
XXV.1962; 
L.N. 4 of 1963.  
Cap. 128.
184. ( Repealed by: XXVII. 2001.33. )
   CODE OF POLICE LAWS        ġ CAP. 10.             43
Permitting 
drunkenness, etc. 
Amended by. 
III.1872.13; 
XI.1910.13; 
XVII. 1938.4.
185. (1) The keeper of any shop licensed for the sale by retail
of wine, beer or spirituous liquor shall not - 
( a ) permit drunkenness, or any violent or quarrelsome
conduct to take place on his premises; or
( b ) sell any wine, beer or spirituous liquor to a drunken
person, or to any person apparently of unsound or
weak mind, or under the age of sixteen years; or
( c ) keep on his premises any arms proper, within reach of
any other person; or
( d ) harbour, or knowingly suffer to remain on his premises
any Police sergeant or constable in uniform, unless for
the purpose of keeping or restoring order, or in
execution of his duty; or
( e ) supply any wine, beer or spirituous liquor, whether by
way of sale or gift, to any Police sergeant or constable
in uniform, unless by authority of some superior
officer of the sergeant or constable, or to any person
belonging to the armed forces of Malta, in uniform,
between the time of opening and eight o’clock in the
morning.
Applicability of s. 
175.
(2) The provisions of article 175 shall apply to shopkeepers
licensed for the sale by retail of wine, beer or spirituous liquor. 
Entry by Police. 
Amended by: 
XI.1910.14. 
Substituted by: 
XLIX.1981.6.
186.   ( Repealed by: XXVII. 2001.33. )
Continuation of 
business by heir, 
etc.
187.  ( Repealed by: XXVII. 2001.33. )
Scales, weights 
and measures.
188.  ( Repealed by: XXVII. 2001.33. )
Keeping of unjust 
or unstamped 
scales, weights and 
measures. 
Amended by: 
XXVIII.1994.45; 
XIX.1996.10.
189. ( Repealed by: XXVII. 2001.33. )
Clean and 
wholesome 
condition of shops.
190.   ( Repealed by: XXVII. 2001.33. )
Exposing goods for 
sale in streets or 
markets beyond the 
limits assigned by 
Police.
191. (( Repealed by: XXVII. 2001.33. )
Power of Police to 
close shops in case 
of riot.
192.  ( Repealed by: XXVII. 2001.33. )
44               CAP. 10. ħ               CODE OF POLICE LAWS
Permitting 
unlawful gaming in 
shops.  
Amended by: 
III.1872.12.
Substituted by:
XXIV. 2001.80.
Cap. 438.
193.   (1) No shopkeeper shall suffer any sort of game of chance
to be carried on in his premises unless licensed or authorised or
permitted to do so in terms of or under the Lotteries and Other
Games Act or any other law.
(2) No shopkeeper shall knowingly permit his premises to be
the place of meeting of persons of notoriously bad character.
Added by: 
XL.1949.14.
PART XI
O F  C ERTAIN  T RADES
Requirement of 
licence in respect 
of certain trades.
Added by: 
XL.1949.14. 
Amended by: 
XLII. 1965.2; 
VI.1995.2.
194. ( Repealed by: XXVII. 2001.33. )
Added by: 
XI.1920.20.
PART XII 
O F  C LUBS
Power of Minister 
responsible for the 
Police to make 
regulations 
respecting 
registration of 
clubs. 
Added by: 
XV.1920.20. 
Amended by: 
XXV. 1962; 
L.N. 4 of 1963; 
L.N. 46 of 1965.
Substituted by:
XXVII. 2001.33.
195. (1) It shall be lawful for the Minister responsible for the
Police to make regulations respecting the registration of club
premises with the Commissioner to Police.
(2) Such registration may be refused on grounds of morality or
public order or because of any lack of any requirement under the
regulations, and subject to the provisions of any other enactment,
such registration may only be cancelled either at the request of the
secretary of that club made on its behalf or in accordance with a
court order following an application therefor by the Commissioner
of Police on the grounds of morality or public order or lack of
compliance with the regulations:
Provided that 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:
Provided further that the registration of a club shall not
dispense such club from holding any permit or licence that may be
required by this or any other law for the carrying out of any activity
by the club.
PART XIII
O F  P UBLIC  B ILLIARD  T ABLES
Articles 196 to 200, both inclusive, were repealed by Act XXVII.
2001.33.
   CODE OF POLICE LAWS        ġ CAP. 10.             45
PART XIV
O F  T HEATRES AND  P UBLIC  E NTERTAINMENTS
Holding of 
shows, etc.
201.    ( Repealed by: XXVII. 2001.33. )
Prohibition of 
tobacco smoking in 
theatres and 
cinemas. 
Added by: 
XLII. 1976.2.
202.    Repealed by: XLII. 1986.20.
Power of Minister 
responsible for the 
Police to make 
regulations. 
Amended by: 
VIII. 1946.2. 
Substituted by: 
X.1950.2. 
Amended by: 
XIV.1958; 
XXV.1962; 
L.N. 4 of 1963; 
L.N. 46 of 1965; 
XIII. 1983.5.
 203.  (1) The Minister responsible for the Police may make
and, when made, amend, repeal or repeal and re-enact regulations
respecting public theatres, public cinematograph halls, public
shows and entertainments, public balls and, in each case, the
immediate approaches thereto. Without prejudice to the generality
of this power such regulations may be provided in particular for - 
( a ) the issue and renewal by the Commissioner of Police
of licences in respect of such places and the conditions
governing such licences;
( b ) fire-fighting appliances and other precautions against
fire; the training, qualifications and licensing of
firemen;
( c ) the qualifications and licensing of the staff of
cinematograph operating rooms;
( d ) the means of promoting the ventilation and the
sanitation in general of such places;
( e ) the appointment and functions of censors; the payment
to them of such fees as the Minister responsible for the
Police may establish from time to time; and an appeal
from decisions of the censors;
( f )   the licensing of film importers; the responsibilities of
the importers and the exhibitors; the minimum
requirements of films for exhibition to the public, and
the terms and conditions of supply of films by the
importers to the exhibitors;
( g ) the control of contracts between the purveyors of
public performances and shows and the performers and
other employees connected therewith;
( h ) the duration of public performances, shows and
exhibitions, and the composition of programmes
therefor;
( i ) admission to the said places, and restriction of
admission thereto by age groups in respect of different
classes of entertainments;
( j ) accommodation in the said places and prices of
admission in respect of different classes of seats, of
different localities and of different occasions;
( k ) the control of behaviour in the said places and the right
of the Police to expel persons from any such place
46               CAP. 10. ħ               CODE OF POLICE LAWS
during the course of a performance or exhibition or
show;
( l ) the right of entry into the said places of specified
public authorities and the rights exercisable by any
such authority upon such entry;
( m ) the liability of a licensee for the acts of his agents and
servants;
( n ) establishing the penalties to which any offender
against any of the regulations made under this article
shall be liable; such penalties may include fines in an
amount not in excess of five thousand liri, either with
or without a determined minimum and the suspension
or the cancellation of any licence whether issued under
any regulations made under this article or otherwise;
( o ) the constitution of a Board of arbitration for the
purpose of settling disputes between importers and
exhibitors of films; the functions and powers of such
Board, and the procedure to be followed in
proceedings before it.
(2) Regulations made under sub-article (1) may be made to
apply, to such extent as may be specified therein, to premises being
clubs or institutions at which theatrical or cinematographic
performances or shows or balls are staged or given, whether
habitually or occasionally and whether on payment or otherwise,
before or to any audience or attendance comprising thirty or more
persons.
(3) Regulations made under this article shall be laid on the
table of the House of Representatives as soon as may be after they
are made; and if the House of Representatives, within a period of
twenty days beginning with the day on which any such regulations
are laid before it, resolve that they be annulled, or amended, the
same shall cease to have effect, or shall be so amended but without
prejudice to anything previously done thereunder or to the making
of any new regulations. In reckoning any period for the purpose of
this sub-article no account shall be taken of any time during which
the House of Representatives is dissolved or prorogued or during
which it is adjourned for more than four days.
Power of stopping 
and of suspending 
exhibitions.  
Added by: 
X. 1950.2.
204.  It shall be lawful for the Commissioner of Police for
reasons of public order, public safety or public morality or by
reason of the licensees’ lack of compliance with the provisions of
regulations made under article 203 hereof, to order the suspension
forthwith of any public performance, exhibition, show or
entertainment, and likewise to order the suspension of any licence
and the closing of any premises concerned for a period not in
excess of fifteen days.
   CODE OF POLICE LAWS        ġ CAP. 10.             47
PART XV
  O F  S PORTSMEN
Sporting licence. 
Amended by: 
XI. 1910.15;
XL. 1949.17. 
Substituted by: 
XVII. 1980.2. 
Amended by: 
V. 1991.50.
205. (1) The use of guns and other firearms for sporting
purposes is permitted but only as provided in the following
provisions of this Part.
(2) No person shall use any gun or other firearm for the
purpose of searching for, pursuing or killing game without a valid
licence from the Police.
(3) A licence issued under sub-article (1) shall not be valid
during such other period as may be specified in the licence. 
Conditions for 
licence. 
Amended by: 
XI. 1910.15; 
XVII.1963.4;
XXVII. 2001.33.
206.   Such licence shall not be granted to any person - 
( a ) who has not attained the age of eighteen years; or 
( b ) who is not, in the opinion of the Commissioner of
Police, of good character or a fit person to handle a
gun or other firearm without danger; or
Cap. 9.
( c ) who, in the preceding year, has been convicted of any
contravention against any of the provisions of this
Part, or against  article  304( a ) of the Criminal Code.
Presumption as to 
pursuit of game.
Added by: 
XI.1910.15. 
Amended by: 
XVII.1980.3.
207.   Repealed by: V.1991.50.
Licence to be 
personal. 
Added by: 
XI.1910.15.
208.  Such licence shall be personal and it shall not be lawful
for the person having such licence to permit the use thereof to any
other person.
Production of 
licence at request 
of Police. 
Added by: 
XI. 1910.15. 
Amended by: XXII. 
1952.2.
209.  Any person found in the actual search for or pursuit of
game shall, if so required by any Police officer, state his name,
surname and other particulars and produce his licence either on
demand or within two days of such demand at such place as may be
appointed by the Police officer.
Prohibition to enter 
field, etc., 
belonging to 
another person. 
Amended by: 
XI. 1910.15. 
210.   Repealed by: V. 1991.50.
Wanton discharge 
of firearms. 
Added by: 
XI.1910.15. 
Substituted by: 
XVII.1980.4.
211.   Repealed by: V. 1991.50.
Taxidermy licence. 
Added by: 
XVII.1980.5.
Amended by:
XXVII. 2001.33.
212. (1) No person shall act as a taxidermist without a licence
from the Minister responsible for the environment or from such
other person or authority as may be designated by the said Minister.
(2) A licence granted under sub-article (1) may contain such
conditions as the said Minister or such other person or authority as
aforesaid may deem appropriate, and any licensee who acts in
48               CAP. 10. ħ               CODE OF POLICE LAWS
contravention of any of those conditions shall be deemed to be
acting without a licence.
(3) Any person convicted of cruelty to animals under any law,
shall be disqualified from obtaining a licence under this article for
a period of five years.
Bird-ringing 
licence. 
Added by: 
XVII. 1980.5. 
213.   Repealed by: V.1991.50.
Power of Minister 
responsible for the 
environment to 
make regulations. 
Added by: 
XI. 1910.15. 
Amended by: 
XXVII.1935.2; 
L.N. 4 of 1963;
XXVII. 2001.33.
214.  It shall be lawful for the Minister responsible for the
environment from time to time to make, vary or revoke regulations
for carrying out the provisions of this Part and in particular for the
protection of game and wild birds.
PART XVI
O F  S HEPHERDS AND  G OATHERDS
Articles 215 to 217, both inclusive, were repealed by Act XXVII.
2001.33.
Amended by: 
VII. 1889.3.
PART XVII
Amended by: 
II.1958. 
  O F  P ORTERS
Licence to porters. 
Amended by: 
VII.1889.3; 
XIII.1913.4; 
VI. 1933.1; 
II. 1958.5; 
IX. 1971.3; 
XVII.1991.82.
218.    ( Repealed by: XXVII. 2001.33. )
Power of Minister 
responsible for 
ports to make 
regulations and to 
fix charges payable 
to porters. 
Amended by: 
II.1880.23; 
VII.1889.3; 
XIV.1932.2; 
VI.1933.1; 
XI.1933.2; 
II.1958.5; 
L.N. 4 of 1963; 
XVII. 1991.82.
219.   ( Repealed by: XXVII. 2001.33. )
   CODE OF POLICE LAWS        ġ CAP. 10.             49
Handling of 
luggage to be 
carried out by 
luggage porters. 
Added by: 
VI.1933.1. 
Amended by: 
L.N. 4 of 1963; 
IX. 1971.3. 
220.   Repealed by: XVII. 1991.82.
Service of luggage 
porters subject to 
supervision of 
Director of Ports. 
Government not 
liable for loss or 
damage. 
Added by: 
VI. 1933.1. 
Amended by: 
IX. 1971.3. 
 221.  Repealed by: XVII. 1991.82.
Added by: 
XIII.1900.1.
PART XVIII 
O F  S HOEBLACKS
Licence to 
shoeblacks. 
Added by: 
XIII.1900.l. 
Amended by: 
L.N. 4 of 1963.
222.   ( Repealed by: XXVII. 2001.33. )
Added by: 
VII. 1942.2.
PART XIX
O F  B ROKERS  ( Pitkali )  AND  V ENDORS OF  A GRICULTURAL 
P RODUCE 
Power of Minister 
responsible for 
agriculture to make 
regulations. 
Added by: 
VII.1942.2. 
Amended by: 
XIV. 1958; 
L.N. 4 of 1963.
223. *  The Minister responsible for agriculture may make
regulations in regard to the sale, at auction or otherwise, of
agricultural produce and in regard to the licensing of persons
connected therewith. Such regulations may provide for special
penalties to be inflicted in respect of default of compliance
therewith.
PART XX
Substituted by: 
XXX. 1972.2.
O F  T ERRITORIAL  W ATERS,  H ARBOURS AND  W HARVES
Obstruction in 
harbours and on 
wharves. 
Amended by: 
XV.1904.1; 
L.N. 4 of 1963; 
XVII. 1991.82.
224. (1) Save as provided for in any other law, it shall not be
lawful to leave in any harbour or on any wharf anything which
might impede the free navigation or obstruct the passage,
embarkation or disembarkation of persons, merchandise or other
things, or leave therein any unserviceable vessel, abandoned or
sunk; or throw therein anything which might cause any deposit of
mud; or in any other manner render the bottom of the harbour in a
*This article as originally enacted consisted of two sub-articles.
Sub-article  ( 2 )  has been omitted because it has ceased to be in force.
50               CAP. 10. ħ               CODE OF POLICE LAWS
different condition from its ordinary state, or obstruct the mouth of
any public sewer discharging into the sea.
Discharge of 
ballast, etc., 
outside the 
harbours.
(2) No ballast, stones, mud, debris, refuse, or any other solid
matter shall be discharged from any vessel or dredger, within such
area, outside any harbour, as shall be fixed by the Minister
responsible for ports, by notice in the Gazette or in contravention
of any regulations made from time to time by the Minister
responsible for ports and published in the Gazette respecting the
conveyance and discharge outside the harbours of the materials or
things above mentioned.
Taking animals 
into the sea.  
Amended by: 
XIX. 1926.12.
225. (1) It shall not be lawful to allow any animal to approach
any part of the seashore where any person is bathing, unless such
place be expressly set apart for animals.
Power of 
Commissioner of 
Police to make 
regulations.
(2) It shall be lawful for the Commissioner of Police to make
regulations fixing the hours and places in which animals may be
taken into the sea.
Holding of 
regattas, etc. 
Amended by: 
XV.1920.21; 
XVII.1991.82.
226.  It shall not be lawful to hold any regatta, greasy-pole, or
any other public entertainment or show or let off any fire-works, or
discharge any fire-arm in any harbour, without a licence from the
Commissioner of Police granted with the consent of the Malta
Maritime Authority.
Throwing of 
noxious things in 
harbours.  Amended 
by: XV.1904.2; 
XXX. 1972.3.
227.   No person shall leave in any harbour or on any wharf
anything which may cause injury to public health, or a nuisance; or
throw into the waters of any harbour or into any part of the internal
waters or of the territorial waters of Malta any rubbish or dirty
liquid which may cause a nuisance.
Pollution of 
harbours and 
territorial waters 
by petroleum or 
other oils. 
Added by: 
XIX.1926.13. 
Substituted by: 
XXX.1972.4. 
Amended by: 
XIII.1983.5; 
XVII. 1991.81.
228. (1) If any petroleum or other oil or any mixture
containing petroleum or other oil is discharged, leaks or runs into
the waters of any harbour or into any part of the internal waters or
of the territorial waters of Malta from any vessel or any place
afloat, or from any place on land, or from any apparatus used for
transferring petroleum or other oils from or to any vessel (whether
to or from a place on land or afloat), then - 
( a ) if the discharge, leakage or running is from a vessel,
the owner or master of the vessel, or
( b ) if the discharge, leakage or running is from an
apparatus used for transferring petroleum or other oils
from or to a vessel, or takes place while petroleum or
other oils are being so transferred, the owner or person
in charge of the apparatus, or
( c ) if the discharge, leakage or running is from any other
place, the occupier or other person in charge of such
place,
shall be guilty of an offence against this article and shall be liable,
on conviction, to a fine ( multa ) of not less than one hundred liri and
not more than two thousand liri, or to imprisonment from one to six
months, or to both such fine and imprisonment.
(2) Any person found guilty of an offence under this article
   CODE OF POLICE LAWS        ġ CAP. 10.             51
shall be liable for all damages caused and all costs occasioned by
the facts constituting the offence, and the court shall, at the demand
of the prosecution made at any time of the proceedings prior to
final judgment, order in the same judgment the offender to make
good and pay to the Malta Maritime Authority all such damages
and costs as shall be liquidated by the same court, which order shall
be executable in the same manner as if it had been given in a civil
action duly instituted by the Malta Maritime Authority against the
offender:
Provided that nothing in this sub-article shall affect the
right of third parties to institute any civil action against the
offender for any damage suffered by them.
Sale of wines and 
spirituous liquors 
alongside vessels 
of war. 
Amended by: 
X.1867.3; 
IX. 1971.3; 
XVII. 1991.82.
229. (1) It shall not be lawful to take alongside any ship or
vessel of war, or alongside any boat belonging to any such ship or
vessel, any wines or spirituous liquors, for sale or otherwise,
without the permission of the officer commanding such ship or
vessel.
Boats not to stop 
except at certain 
distances from 
vessels of war.
(2) It shall not be lawful for any boat, without the permission
of the said officer, or of the Malta Maritime Authority, to stop at
any time between sunset and sunrise - 
( a ) at a distance of less than six point five metres from any
such ship or vessel moored in the external part of the
creek commonly called Cospicua or Dockyard Creek,
or from any such ship or vessel moored outside such
creek at a distance of not less than forty-five metres
from any place set apart for the mooring of merchant
vessels; or
( b ) at a distance of less than fourteen metres from any
such ship or vessel moored, outside such creek,
beyond the said distance from any place set apart for
the mooring of merchant vessels.
For the purposes of this sub-article, the external part of the creek
commonly called Cospicua or Dockyard Creek shall extend to an
imaginary line from the outside corner of the landing place
commonly called Carmine landing place, on the Vittoriosa wharf,
to the outside corner of St. Julian’s Street, Senglea.
Boats not to 
embark or 
disembark 
passengers except 
at gangway.
(3) It shall not be lawful for any boat, without the permission
of the said officer, to approach, for the purpose of embarking or
disembarking passengers, any part of such ship or vessel,
wheresoever moored, other than the gangway set apart for the
purpose.
Boarding ships or 
vessels. 
Added by: 
XIII.1913.5.
230.  No person shall board, or remain on any ship or vessel,
against the express prohibition of the master.
52               CAP. 10. ħ               CODE OF POLICE LAWS
Licence to retailers 
on sea.
Amended by: 
VII. 1889.4; 
XIII.1913.6; 
XV.1920.21; 
XL.1949.18; 
XVII. 1991.82;
XXVII. 2001.33.
Cap. 352.
231. (1) It shall not be lawful to carry on the trade of retailer
of any wares or merchandise whatsoever, on the sea, without a
licence from the  Malta Maritime Authority.
Licence to state 
boat.
(2) The licence shall state the boat to be used in the carrying on
of such trade.
Applicability 
of s.309.
(3) The provisions of article 309 shall apply to the retailers
mentioned in this article.
Loading, etc., of 
ballast. 
Amended by: 
IX.1971.3. 
232.  Repealed by: XVII.1991.82.
Power of Minister 
responsible for 
ports to make 
regulations. 
Amended by: 
I.1856.1; 
VII.1889.5; 
XIII.1913.7; 
I.1931.2; 
XIII.1962.63; 
L.N. 4 of 1963; 
IX.1971.3; 
XXIII.1973.2. 
233.  Repealed by: XVII. 1991.82.
Minister 
responsible for 
ports enabled to 
make regulations. 
Added by: 
XXXVI. 1948.2. 
Amended by: 
XIV.1958; 
XXV.1962; 
L.N. 4 of 1963; 
L.N. 46 of 1965.
 234.   Repealed by: XVII.1991.82.
PART XXI
O F  M ASTERS OF  V ESSELS
Master not to 
permit boats to 
approach vessel. 
Amended by: 
VII.1889.6.
235.   The master shall not permit any boat to approach his
vessel, except a pilot boat or steam tug seeking hire, before the port
officer shall have visited the vessel, or allow any person to
disembark, before the vessel shall have received pratique.
Master not to 
communicate with 
any part of Malta 
other than the 
Grand Harbour or 
Marsamxett 
Harbour.
236.   No master of any merchant vessel shall, except in case of
necessity and within the limits of such necessity, have any
communication with any part of Malta, other than the Grand
Harbour or the Marsamxett Harbour.
   CODE OF POLICE LAWS        ġ CAP. 10.             53
Dangerous cargo 
on board merchant 
vessels. 
Amended by: 
X.1867.4; 
IV.1912.5; 
XXXVI.1947.2; 
L.N. 4 of 1963; 
IX.1971.3;
XLIX. 1981.6; 
XVII.1991.82.
237. (1) Every master of a merchant vessel shall declare to the
Malta Maritime Authority the quantity of any ammunition or other
explosives or of any other cargo of a dangerous nature which he
may have on board. He shall keep at the mast-head, by day, a red
burgee (International Code ‘B’) and, by night, an all-round red
light, during the discharge or the loading of any ammunition or
other explosives or of any cargo of a dangerous nature, and
likewise on entering the territorial waters of Malta and during the
vessel’s stay in port as long as such ammunition or other explosives
or cargo of a dangerous nature is on board. He shall also, before
commencing the discharge or loading of such ammunition or other
explosives or cargo of a dangerous nature, expressly warn any
vessel lying near:
Provided that the provisions of this sub-article shall not be
of prejudice to the provisions of any regulations made under this
Code or any other law and which may from time to time be in force.
Powers of Malta 
Maritime 
Authority.
(2) Where it is necessary or expedient that any quantity of
ammunition or other explosives or of any other cargo of a
dangerous nature existing on board any merchant vessel be
temporarily unloaded during the vessel’s stay in any harbour in
Malta, it shall be lawful for the Malta Maritime Authority to
appoint a place for the deposit of such merchandise, and to order
the master of the vessel to deposit such merchandise in the place so
appointed.
(3) Where the master fails to execute forthwith any such order,
it shall be lawful for the Malta Maritime Authority to cause such
order to be carried out, at the cost and risk of the master.
(4) The Malta Maritime Authority shall not allow the departure
of the vessel carrying such ammunition or explosives or cargo of a
dangerous nature or the withdrawal of any part of such
merchandise, until the expenses of transport and custody of such
merchandise and vessel shall have been paid to it.
(5) The Minister responsible for ports may from time to time
modify by order published in the Gazette the signals prescribed in
sub-article (1).
Malta Maritime 
Authority to search 
vessel unloading 
dangerous cargo. 
Amended by: 
XXXVI.1947.3; 
IX. 1971.3; 
XVII. 1991.82.
238. The Malta Maritime Authority shall make a close search on
any merchant vessel unloading ammunition or other explosives or
any other cargo of a dangerous nature, in order to satisfy itself that
none is left on board; and it shall be lawful for it to take all
measures which it may deem necessary for the purpose.
Power of Minister 
responsible for 
ports to make 
regulations. 
Amended by: 
I.1856.3; 
III.1872.20; 
XIII.1962.63;
L.N. 4 of 1963. 
239.  Repealed by: XVII.1991.82.
54               CAP. 10. ħ               CODE OF POLICE LAWS
Careening of 
vessel. 
Amended by: 
III.1872.21; 
IV.1912.6. 
Substituted by: 
XIII.1962.63. 
Amended by: 
IX.1971.3; 
XXII.1976.4. 
240.   Repealed by: XVII. 1991.82.
Master not to allow 
smoking, etc., 
whilst loading or 
unloading 
inflammable 
merchandise. 
Amended by: 
VII.1889.7.
241.   Repealed by: XVII.1991.82.
Boats of vessels to 
carry lights. 
 242.   Repealed by: XVII. 1991.82.
PART XXII
O F  B OATS 
O F  B OATS IN  G ENERAL
Articles 243 to 247 ,  both inclusive ,  were repealed by Act No. XVII
of 1991.
O F  B ALLAST  B OATS
Articles 248 to 250 ,  both inclusive ,  were repealed by Act No.
XVII of 1991.
O F  G OZO  B OATS
Articles 251 to 253 ,  both inclusive ,  were repealed by Act No.
XVII of 1991.
O F  P ONTOONS
Articles 254 to 263 ,  both inclusive ,  were repealed by Act No.
XVII of 1991.
   CODE OF POLICE LAWS        ġ CAP. 10.             55
O F  C ARGO  B OATS
Articles 264 and 265 were repealed by Act No. XVII of 1991. 
O F  W ATER  B OATS
Articles 266 to 269 ,  both inclusive ,  were repealed by Act No.
XVII of 1991.
O F  P ASSAGE  B OATS
Articles 270 to 286 both inclusive ,  were repealed by Act No.
XXIII of 2000.
O F  C AIQUES AND OTHER  S MALL  B OATS
Articles 287 and 288 were repealed by Act No. XVII of 1991.
O F  S TEAM-BOATS
Steam-boats plying 
as passenger boats 
or tugs.  Amended 
by: VII.1889.8; 
XIII. 1913.14; 
XVII.1991.82.
289.  Repealed by XXIII. 2000.30.
Licence.  
Amended by: 
VII. 1889.8; 
XV.1920.21; 
XL.1949.20; 
L.N. 161 of 1990; 
XVII. 1991.82.
290.  Repealed by XXIII. 2000.30.
Safety valve.  
Amended by: 
VII. 1889.8. 
291.   Repealed by: XVII. 1991.82.
No undue weight 
to be placed on 
safety valve. 
Amended by: 
VII. 1889.8.
292.   Repealed by: XVII.1991.82.
Life buoys. 
Amended by: 
VII.1889.8. 
293.   Repealed by: XVII.1991.82.
Shelter for deck 
passengers. 
Amended by: 
VII. 1889.8; 
IX. 1971.3. 
294.   Repealed by: XVII. 1991.82.
56               CAP. 10. ħ               CODE OF POLICE LAWS
Sanitary facilities 
on steam-boats. 
Added by: 
XIII.1977.2.
295. Repealed by XXIII. 2000.30.
Surveyor of 
machinery. 
Certificate of 
survey. 
Amended by: 
VII. 1889.8; 
XVII.1991.82.
Cap. 234.
Cap. 352.
296. Repealed by XXIII. 2000.30.
Survey of hull. 
Certificate of 
survey. 
Amended by: 
VII. 1889.8; 
XL. 1949.21; 
XXIII. 1973.3; 
XVII. 1991.82.
Cap. 234.
Cap. 352.
297. Repealed by XXIII. 2000.30.
Lodgement of 
certificates with 
Public Transport 
Authority 
Amended by: 
VII.1889.8; 
XV.1920.21; 
L.N. 161 of 1990; 
XVII.1991.82. 
Cap. 234.
Cap. 352.
298.   Repealed by XXIII. 2000.30.
Lights. 
Amended by: 
VII.1889.8; 
XI.1973.377. 
299.   Repealed by: XVII. 1991.82.
Designation of 
steam-boats plying 
as tugs. 
Amended by: 
VII.1889.8. 
300.   Repealed by: XVII. 1991.82.
Towing of 
pontoons in excess 
of licensed 
number. 
Amended by: 
VII.1889.8. 
301.   Repealed by: XVII. 1991.82.
Applicability of 
certain provisions 
to steam-boats, 
Amended by: 
VII.1889.8; 
XI.1910.17.
302.   Repealed by XXIII. 2000.30.
and motor-boats. 
Added by: 
XIII.1913.15.
303.   Repealed by XXIII. 2000.30.
Power of Minister 
responsible for 
ports to fix rates. 
Added by: 
XIII.1913.15. 
Amended by: 
L.N. 4 of 1963. 
304.   Repealed by: XVII.1991.82.
   CODE OF POLICE LAWS        ġ CAP. 10.             57
PART XXIII
Amended by: 
XVI.1937.3.
O F  F ISHING,  S ALE OF  F ISH AND  F ISHING  B OATS
Power of Minister 
responsible for 
fisheries to make 
regulations. 
Amended by: 
VII.1889.9; 
XVI.1937.2; 
XIV.1958; 
XXV. 1962; 
L.N. 4 of 1963.
305.   Repealed by Act II of 2001.
Forfeiture of 
fishing instruments 
in consequence of 
conviction. 
Amended by: 
VII.1889.9.
306.   Repealed by Act II of 2001
PART XXIV
Amended by: 
VII.1889.10.
O F  B OATMEN
Licence to 
boatmen. 
Amended by: 
VII.1889.10; 
XV.1920.21; 
L.N. 161 of 1990. 
Substituted by: 
XVII.1991.82.  
307.   Repealed by XXIII. 2000.30.
Conditions for 
grant of licence.  
Amended by: 
VII.1889.10; 
XIII.1913.16; 
XV.1920.21; 
XXXVI.1948.3; 
L.N. 161 of 1990; 
Substituted by: 
XVII.1991.81.
308.   Repealed by XXIII. 2000.30.
Duration of 
licence. 
Cancellation or 
suspension of 
licence. 
Amended by: 
VII.1889.10; 
IV. 1912.8; 
XIX.1926.17; 
XL.1949.22; 
XVII.1991.82.
309.   Repealed by XXIII. 2000.30.
PART XXV
Amended by:
IV. 1912.9.
O F  D EALERS IN  M ARINE  S TORES AND  O LD  M ETALS
Articles 310 to 316 ,  both inclusive ,  were repealed by XXVII.
2001.33.
58               CAP. 10. ħ               CODE OF POLICE LAWS
Added by: 
XIV. 1986.2.
PART XXV A
  O F  V IDEO  R ECORDERS
Video recorder 
licence.  
Added by: 
XIV. 1986.2.
316A.   ( Repealed by XXVII. 2001.33. )
Licence fee and 
power to make 
regulations. 
Added by:
XIV. 1986.2.
316B.   ( Repealed by XXVII. 2001.33. )
PART XXVI 
Amended by: 
II.1880.29.
G ENERAL  P ROVISIONS
Regulations to be 
published in the 
Gazette. 
Added by: 
II.1880.29. 
Amended by: 
VII.1889.12; 
L.N. 4 of 1963.
317.   Any regulation made by the competent authority in virtue
of the powers conferred on him by this Code or by any other law,
the non-observance of which constitutes an offence, shall be
published in the Gazette.
Breach of any 
provision of this 
Code or of any 
order thereunder to 
constitute a 
contravention. 
Amended by:
L.N. 4 of 1963.
318.  Any person who commits any breach of the provisions of
this Code or of any order or regulation given or made thereunder by
the competent authority or any other public officer, whether by
doing anything which he ought not to do or by omitting anything
which he ought to do, or by preventing other persons from doing
anything which they are enjoined or permitted to do or by undoing
or frustrating anything which other persons may have done under
the provisions of this Code or of any order or regulation thereunder,
or in any other manner whatsoever, shall be guilty of a
contravention.
Punishments. 
Amended by: 
III.1872.26; 
VIII.1874.4; 
XI.1910.19; 
II.1968.3; 
XXX.1972.7; 
L. 1974.6; 
LIV. 1975.2; 
XIII.1976.3; 
XLII.1976.3; 
XIII.1977.3; 
XXIII.1978.3; 
XLIX.1981.4; 
XIII.1983.5; 
XV. 1985.3.  
Cap. 9.
319. (1) Saving the provisions of articles 19 and 543 of the
Criminal Code, the provisions of the next fol1owing sub-articles
and any other special provision of this Code, any court of criminal
judicature may in respect of any of the contraventions referred to in
the last preceding article, award any of the punishments laid down
in the Criminal Code for contraventions, either separately or
cumulatively, or, if it is of opinion that the offence deserves a
heavier punishment, award a fine ( multa ) or imprisonment for a
term not exceeding one month.
(2) When any person is found guilty of a contravention of any
of the provisions of article 38(1)( a ), article 39 or any regulations
made thereunder, or article 190, he shall be liable, on conviction, to
a fine ( multa ) of not less than ten liri and, moreover, if any vehicle
or vessel has been used in, or for the purposes of, the commission
of the offence, the court shall, at the demand of the prosecution,
order the sequestration of such vehicle or vessel, as the case may
be, for a term of not less than one month but not exceeding six
months and the suspension for an equal term of any driving licence
held by the offender, during which period the maintenance of and
the repairs (if any) to the vehicle or vessel shall be at the expense of
its licensee.
   CODE OF POLICE LAWS        ġ CAP. 10.             59
(2A)  When any person is found guilty of a contravention of any
of the provisions of article 121(2) or article 227, he shall be liable,
on conviction, to a fine ( multa ) of not less than fifty liri but not
exceeding one hundred liri, and if any vehicle or vessel has been
used in or for the purpose of the commission of the offence, the
court shall at the demand of the prosecution, order the sequestration
of such vehicle or vessel, as the case may be, for a term of not less
than two months but not exceeding one year and, in the case of a
vehicle, the suspension for an equal term of any driving licence
held by the offender, during which period the vehicle or vessel
shall be at the risk of the owner:
Provided that where any person who has not participated in
the offence, has a claim to such vehicle the sequestration shall only
be ordered if the court is satisfied that no such claim is thereby
prejudiced.
(2B)  When an offence referred to in sub-article (2A) relates to
dumping, the court shall in addition to any penalty which may be
imposed in accordance with this Code, also order the offender to
remove from the place where the offence has taken place all the
material, in respect of which he is found guilty, within a time
sufficient for the purpose, to be fixed by the court, and that in
default of compliance with that order such material be removed at
the expense of the offender, in which case he may be made to
refund the expense as a civil debt.
(2C)  When in an offence to which sub-article (2A) applies an
offender throws or dumps rubbish, refuse, litter or liquid of such
size or in such quantity or accumulation as, taken by itself, is
sufficient to lead to defacement of any place in the open air or of
any part of the coastal waters, he shall be liable, on conviction, to a
fine ( multa ) of not less than five hundred liri but not exceeding one
thousand liri and where any vehicle or vessel has been used in or
for the purpose of the commission of the offence, the provisions of
sub-article (2A) as regards sequestration and suspension of driving
licence shall apply.
(2D)  When the offender is not the owner of the vehicle or vessel
mentioned in sub-article (2A) or (2C) but has acted under the
instructions or with the knowledge of such owner or where such
owner had the power to prevent the commission of the offence did
not do so, the owner shall be liable on conviction, to the same
punishment laid down in subarticles (2A) and (2C), and the
provisions of subarticle (2B) shall be applicable with regard to the
owner of the vehicle or vessel.
(2E)  If the circumstances in which any material unlawfully
dumped or thrown is found, indicate the owner or other person
responsible for such material immediately prior to its dumping,
such owner or person shall be deemed to have deposited that
material and shall be liable to the punishment laid down in
subarticles (2A) and (2C) and the provisions of sub-article (2B)
shall be applicable with regard to him, unless he proves that he did
not know of the commission of the offence, or although he knew of
it did not have the power to prevent it.
60               CAP. 10. ħ               CODE OF POLICE LAWS
(3) Where any person is found guilty of an offence against
any of the provisions of article 130 or of article 181 or of any
regulations made under any of the said articles, he shall be liable - 
( a ) on a first conviction, to a fine ( multa ) of not less than
twenty liri but not exceeding two hundred liri, and 
( b ) on a second or subsequent conviction, to a fine ( multa )
of not less than fifty liri but not exceeding five
hundred liri, or to imprisonment for a term not
exceeding three months, or to both such fine and
imprisonment.
(4) Where any person is found guilty of an offence against the
provisions of article 97(1)( g ) or of article 295 of this Code, he shall
be liable to a fine ( multa ) of not less than twenty liri but not
exceeding five hundred liri and moreover to a penalty of not less
than two liri but not exceeding fifty liri per day from the date of the
conviction to the date in which such person complies with the said
provisions.
(5) Any person who is found guilty of a contravention
against the provisions of article 202 shall be liable - 
( a ) on a first conviction, to a fine ( multa ) of not less than
two liri, and
( b ) on a second or subsequent conviction, to a fine ( multa )
of not less than five liri.
(6) ( a )   Any person who commits an offence against any of the
provisions of articles 205 to 211 of this Code, or of any regulations
made under article 214 of this Code, shall, in the case of a first
conviction, be liable to a fine ( multa ) of not less than ten liri or to
imprisonment for a term not exceeding one month and, in the case
of a second or subsequent conviction, to a fine ( multa ) of not less
than fifty liri or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three
months or to both such fine and imprisonment.
( b ) When a person is found guilty of an offence as is referred to
in paragraph ( a ), the court shall suspend the relative licence for a
period not exceeding twelve months and shall, at the request of the
prosecution, order the forfeiture of the gun, firearm, ammunition,
weapon, or other article used in the commission of the offence.
Cap. 9. ( c ) The provisions of  article  21 of the Criminal Code shall not
apply in respect of any conviction for an offence as is referred to in
paragraph ( a ).
Power of court to 
order sequestration 
of vehicle or boat.
(7) It shall also be lawful for the court, in the case of any
contravention committed by the owner or driver of a vehicle, or by
the owner of a boat, or by a boatman, in the exercise of his calling,
to order the sequestration of the vehicle or boat, for a time not
exceeding one month, at the expense of the owner.
Sequestration of 
vehicle to include 
sequestration of 
animal.
(8) The sequestration of the vehicle shall be deemed to include
the sequestration of the animal which, at the time of the
contravention, was attached to it.
   CODE OF POLICE LAWS        ġ CAP. 10.             61
Power of court to 
cancel or suspend 
licence of 
shopkeepers, etc.
320.   In the case of a second or subsequent conviction for any
contravention committed by any shopkeeper, vendor, or other
person exercising any art, trade or other calling in virtue of a
licence from the competent authority, in connection with the
exercise of such art, trade or other calling, it shall be lawful for the
court to cancel the licence, or to suspend the same for any time, in
its discretion.
Power of court to 
order abatement of 
nuisance, etc. 
Amended by: 
II.1880.30; 
X.1956.5;
I. 1959.8; 
XXXI.1967.37; 
III.1972.3; 
XIII. 1983.5.
321. (1) In the case of any contravention, the court, besides
awarding punishment, shall order the offender, where the occasion
so requires, to abate the nuisance arising from the contravention,
or, according to circumstances, to carry out the law within a time,
sufficient for the purpose, to be fixed by the court; and, if the
offender fails to comply with any such order within the time so
fixed, he shall be liable to a fine ( ammenda ) not exceeding two liri
for every day the default continues after the expiration of the said
time.
Court may 
authorize the 
Police to abate 
nuisance at the 
expense of the 
offender.
(2) The court may also order that the nuisance be abated, or
that the law be carried out, by the Police, at the expense of the
offender, in which case he may be made to refund the expense,
under a warrant issued by the court.
(3) If the offender is, on account of mental disease or other
physical incapacity, unable to appear in court or is absent from
Malta or has absconded and a Police officer not below the rank of
inspector certifies on oath that it is urgently required that the
nuisance be abated or that the law be otherwise enforced, the court
shall order the summons to be served on the lawful representative
of the offender or on the person having the custody of the offender
or on the person having the management of his property or in
default of any known representative or person as aforesaid, on the
offender’s husband or wife or son or daughter. In any such case, if
the nuisance or non-compliance with the law is proved, the court
shall apply the provisions of sub-article (2) or, in appropriate cases,
the provisions of sub-article (1).
(4) Where for any reason service of the summons as provided
in sub-article (3) cannot be effected or where the offender is not
known or it is not known who is the person responsible for the
nuisance or non-compliance with the law, the court may apply the
provisions of sub-article (2) on the sole application of a Police
officer not below the rank of inspector confirming on oath the
existence of the nuisance or non-compliance and the urgency that
the same be abated or the law enforced and on such additional
evidence, if any, as the court may deem fit to require.
(5) In any of the cases dealt with in sub-articles (3) and (4), the
court shall, so far as regards the application of any punishment for
the offence, adjourn the proceedings until the offender is fit to
stand trial or returns or becomes known and can appear before it.
Expense of 
undoing work, in 
proof of 
contravention, to 
be borne by Police 
if contravention is 
not proved.
(6) Where the court, on the demand of the Police, for the
purpose of proving any contravention, shall have ordered any work
to be undone wholly or in part, and neither such contravention, nor
any other contravention arising from circumstances which could
not have been ascertained without the undoing of such work, nor
62               CAP. 10. ħ               CODE OF POLICE LAWS
any contravention of the provisions of article 97(1)( o ), is made to
appear, the expense incurred as well as the expense necessary to
restore such work to its former state, shall be at the charge of the
Police.
Power of court in 
case of 
contraventions of 
sanitary authority.
(7) Where any summons has been issued in respect of a
contravention of an order of the sanitary authority, either for
making default in complying with such order, or for not properly
carrying out such order, it shall be lawful for the court, where
necessary, on the demand of the defendant, to require a report from
the General Services Board, and also examine, on oath, the
members of such Board, on the subject-matter of the order or the
execution thereof; and in any such case, if the Board, or the
majority of its members, shall concur in the opinion of the authority
giving the order, the fee due to the members of the Board as well as
the expenses incurred by them, shall be at the charge of the
defendant.
Recovery of 
damages by civil 
process.
(8) Save as otherwise expressly provided in this Code, any
damages arising from any contravention shall be recoverable by the
injured party as a civil debt.
Offence by body of 
persons. 
Added by: 
L. 1974.7.
322.  Where any offence against the provisions of this Code or
of any regulations or order made thereunder is committed by an
association or body of persons, every person who, at the time of the
commission of the offence, was a director, manager, secretary or
other similar officer of such association or body of persons, or was
purporting to act in any such capacity, shall be guilty of that
offence unless he proves that the offence was committed without
his knowledge and that he exercised all due diligence to prevent the
commission of the offence.
