 STATUTE LAW REVISION             1
STATUTE LAW REVISION ACT, 1980
An Act to provide for the preparation, printing and publication of
revised editions of the laws of Malta, and for matters connected therewith
or ancillary thereto.
22nd February, 1980
ACT IX of 1980, as amended by Acts: XLIX of 1981, VIII of 1985, XXX
of 1990, XXIV of 1995, XVII of 1999 and XIII of 2000. 
Title.
Interpretation.
Amended by:
XVII.1999.2.
2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires - 
 "revised edition" means an edition of the laws of Malta prepared
under this Act;
"the Commission" means the Law Commission appointed under
article 3 of this Act;
"statute law" includes any instrument having the force of law;
"the Minister" means the Minister responsible for the Law
Commission.
The Law   
Commission.
3. (1) For the purpose of preparing, from time to time at
intervals of not less than ten years, a revised edition of the statute
laws of Malta, and for the purpose of preparing a Maltese text of all
statute laws enacted or published without a Maltese text, the
Minister may appoint a Commissioner, or a body of Commissioners
consisting of such number of Commissioners as may for the time
being be in office, to be known in either case as the Law
Commission:
Provided that where Parliament has provided that a law may be
enacted or made in either the Maltese or the English language only,
and is so enacted or made, the Commission may prepare the revised
text of that law in that language only.
(2) When there is in office a body of Commissioners, the
Minister shall appoint one of them to be the President of the
Commission.
(3) A person appointed to be a Commissioner may be appointed
for such term and subject to such conditions as may be determined
by the Minister; but a Commissioner may, at any time, resign his
office and may also, for a good cause, be removed from office; and
a person who ceases to be a Commissioner shall be eligible for re-
appointment.
Cap. 12.
(4) A person who holds judicial office may be appointed as a
Commissioner notwithstanding the provisions of article 16 of the
Code of Organization and Civil Procedure but shall not, unless
otherwise provided by the terms of his appointment, be required to
perform his duties as a Judge or Magistrate while he remains a
member of the Commission.
(5) There shall be paid to the Commissioners such remu-
    2            STATUTE LAW REVISION
neration, if any, as the Minister may, with the approval of the
Minister responsible for Finance, determine; and different
remuneration may be paid to the Commissioners according to
circumstances.
(6) It shall also be the function of the Commission to perform
such other duties as may, after consultation with it, be assigned to it
by the Minister.
Powers of 
Commission. 
Amended by: 
XLIX. 1981.2;
XVII.1999.3.
4. (1) In carrying out its functions under this Act, the
Commission shall have power - 
( a ) to omit - 
(i) all statute laws or parts of statute laws which
have been expressly repealed, or which have
expired, or have become spent or have had their
effect;
(ii) all repealing provisions contained in any statute
law;
(iii) all preambles to statute laws where such
omission can, in the opinion of the Commission,
be conveniently made;
(iv) all introductory words of enactment in any
article, regulation or paragraph of a statute law
which consists of more than one article,
regulation or paragraph;
(v) all enactments prescribing the date on
which a statute  law is to come into force, where
such omission can, in the opinion of the
Commission, be conveniently made;
(vi) all amending provisions contained in a statute
law where the amendments effected thereby and
which are still in force have been embodied by
the Commission in the statute law to which they
relate;
(vii) all subsidiary legislation that is, or is intended to
be, of a temporary nature or is subject to relative
or frequent changes or is otherwise such that, in
the opinion of the Commission, may be properly
omitted:
Provided that any such omission shall not
affect the continued operation of any such
subsidiary legislation for as long as it otherwise
remains in force;
( b ) to consolidate into one statute law any two or more
statute laws in pari materia, making such verbal
alterations in the consolidated law as may thereby
become necessary;
( c ) to alter the order of articles or other sub-divisions of a
statute law and, wherever necessary, to re-number
those articles or other sub-divisions;
( d ) to alter the form or arrangement of any article or other
 STATUTE LAW REVISION             3
sub-division of a statute law, either by combining it in
whole or in part with another article or subdivision, or
other articles or sub-divisions, or by dividing it into
two or more parts or sub-divisions;
( e ) to divide any statute law, whether consolidated or not,
into parts or other divisions;
( f ) to add a short title to any statute law which may, in the
opinion of the Commission, require it and, if
necessary, to alter the short title of any statute law;
( g ) to supply or alter marginal notes;
( h ) to shorten and simplify the phraseology of any statute
law;
( i ) to correct grammatical, typographical and other
mistakes in the existing copies of the statute laws, and
for that purpose to make verbal additions, omissions or
alterations not affecting the meaning of any provision;
( j ) to convert any weight or measure into a metric weight
or measure corresponding thereto as nearly as
practicable, and for that purpose the Commission shall
have power to round off any decimal as it may deem
appropriate;
( k ) to make any addition, omission or alteration which is
consequential to any amendment to any statute law or
provision thereof;
( l ) to do all other things relating to form and method
which may improve the revised edition.
(2) Where any statute law is to have effect or is to be read or
construed, or to be read and construed, as provided in another
statute law, the Commission may treat such a provision in the same
manner as an amendment of the former by the latter enactment.
(3) The powers conferred by this article shall not be construed
as empowering the Commission to make any alteration or
amendment in the matter or substance of any statute law; but the
Commission shall have power to make any alteration or amendment
which might be necessary to make the revised edition more faithful
to the original text or to remove any conflict between the Maltese
and the English text of any law, and for these purposes the
Commission shall have power to alter or amend either of those
texts or both, including the prevailing text.
Power to omit 
certain laws.
5. It shall not be necessary for the Commission to include in a
revised edition any statute law omitted under the authority of the
Malta Statute Law Revision Ordinance, 1936; nor shall it be
necessary for the Commission to include in a revised edition any
law which, though in force in Malta immediately before 21st
September, 1964, was so in force by virtue of or under any Act of
the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland; but any such omission shall not affect the validity
or operation of any law so omitted.
    4            STATUTE LAW REVISION
Printing of revised 
edition. 
Amended by: 
XXX.1990.2;
XVII.1999.4.
6. (1) A revised edition shall be prepared in such order, form
and manner, and shall contain such tables, indices and other
information as the Commission may deem necessary or expedient.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing
provisions of this article the Commission may -
( a ) add to any revised edition further parts containing the
laws in force on a date or dates subsequent to that
indicated in the revised edition, or in a further part
thereof, as in force on such date or dates as are
indicated in the further part or parts, and any such
further part shall be deemed to be an integral part of
the revised edition;
( b ) keep the laws contained in any part of a revised edition
updated to a date or dates indicated by the
Commission, and for such purpose the Commission
may publish a revised edition or any part thereof in a
loose-leaf form and keep it updated in such manner
and under such conditions as the Commission may
deem appropriate,
and the provisions of this Act, including in particular, but without
prejudice to the generality of the expression, article 4 and article 8
of this Act, shall apply to any further part, and to any revised
edition or part thereof published in a loose-leaf form, as they apply
to any other revised edition or part thereof.
 (3) A revised edition shall be printed under such arrangements
as the Commission may, with the approval of the Minister,
determine.
Construction of 
references to 
enactments. 
Amended by: 
VIII. 1985.2; 
XXX. 1990.3.
7. (1) Where in any enactment or in any document of
whatever kind, reference is made to any enactment affected by or
under the operation of this Act, or to any provision of such
enactment, such reference shall, where necessary and practicable,
extend and apply to the corresponding enactment, or provision
thereof, in the revised edition then in force.
(2) Where parts of a revised edition are brought into force on
different dates, and in a part which is in force reference is made to
an enactment, or a provision of an enactment, as such an enactment
or provision will be contained in a part of the same edition which is
not yet in force, such reference shall, until such time as the latter
part comes into force, be read as a reference to the corresponding
enactment or provision thereof as then in force.
(3) Where the Commission finds that any part of a revised
edition published by it, whether such part has or has not come into
force, contains an error or an omission, including an error or an
omission which should have been rectified in a revised edition, it
may publish, and cause to be sealed and signed as provided in
article 9 of this Act, a correction in such form as it may deem
appropriate; and, with effect from such date as the Minister may by
notice in the Gazette appoint, being a date not earlier than the
coming into force of the part of the revised edition to which the
correction refers, the said part of the revised edition shall,
 STATUTE LAW REVISION             5
notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, have effect subject
to such correction.
(4) Where an enactment contained in a part of a revised edition
is amended with effect from a date subsequent to the publication
but before the coming into force of that part of the edition, and the
Commission recommends to the Minister alterations in the
amending enactment in order that the latter may be read and
construed more appropriately as one with the principal enactment
amended by it as contained in the revised edition, the Minister may
by order in the Gazette make the alterations so recommended; and
thereupon, or as from such date as the Minister may in the notice
specify, the amended enactment shall have effect as so amended.
Bringing into force 
and validity of 
revised edition. 
Amended by: 
XLIX.1981.3;
XVII. 1999.5.
8. (1) A revised edition shall come into force on such day as
the Minister may by notice in the Gazette appoint.
(2) From the date of the coming into force of a revised edition,
that edition shall be without any question whatever in all Courts of
Justice and for all purposes whatsoever, the sole and only proper
and authentic text of the statute laws included in it as in force on
such date as the Minister shall by notice in the Gazette specify, but
subject to any amendments thereto or any repeal thereof made after
such date:
Provided that where a revised edition is published in
electronic format, that edition shall be the sole and only proper and
authentic text of the statute laws included in it, so however that any
copy thereof or of any part thereof, printed on paper or in any other
form and issued by the Commission, shall, in so far as it conforms
to the revised edition printed in electronic format, also be an
authentic text of the laws included in the said copy.
(3) If there is any conflict between the Maltese and the English
texts of any revised edition, the Maltese text shall prevail.
(4) Notwithstanding anything contained in the foregoing
provisions of this article, the Minister may, in any notice given
thereunder, appoint or specify different dates for different parts of
any revised edition, and in any such case the said provisions shall
apply accordingly.
Copies to be 
signed, sealed and 
deposited.
Amended by: 
XXIV.1995.362.
9. One copy of each volume of a revised edition shall be
signed by the President of the Commission or, if there is only one
Commissioner, by that Commissioner, and shall be sealed with the
Public Seal of Malta. Such copies shall then be transmitted to the
Registrar of the Courts to be enrolled on record in his office.
Place of this Act in 
the revised edition.
10. This Act shall be printed at the commencement of a revised
edition.
Publication of 
revised edition in 
electronic format.
Added by:
XVII.1999.6.
11. (1) The Commission may, with the concurrence of the
Minister, determine that a revised edition shall be made in
electronic format on CD-ROM; and where a revised edition is made
in electronic format as aforesaid, the foregoing provisions of this
Act shall have effect subject to the following provisions of this
article.
    6            STATUTE LAW REVISION
(2) Two hard copies of the Revised Edition shall be made in
printed form and shall be bound in such number of volumes as the
Commission may determine. The hard copies so made shall be
signed and sealed as provided in article 9 of this Act.
(3) One of the copies so made shall be transmitted, together
with a copy of the Revised Edition in electronic format to the
Registrar of Courts to be enrolled on record in his office as
provided in article 9, and another shall be placed at the office of the
Commission and shall be open for inspection by the public on the
payment of such fees as the Commission, with the concurrence of
the Minister, may determine.
(4) At the request of any person, the Commission may issue
hard copies of particular laws in a revised edition on the payment
of such fees as it may, with the concurrence of the Minister,
determine, and shall cause such copies to be authenticated by such
officer of the Commission as the Commission may by notice in the
Gazette from time to time determine. Such authenticated copies
shall, unless the contrary is proved, be accepted in evidence before
any court of law as a true copy of such law as it appears in the
revised edition.
(5) A revised edition made in electronic format shall not come
into force before copies thereof have been transmitted to the
Registrar of Courts as provided in sub-article (3) of this article.
Application of the 
Copyright Act.
Added by:
XVII.1999.6.
Amended by:/
XIII. 2000.61.
12. (1) No person may without the permission of the
Government make, or cause to be made copies or reproductions in
any material form of any revised edition or any part thereof as
published by the Commission.
(2) The provisions of sub-article (1) of this article shall not
apply to the printing or publication of any law contained in a
revised edition, by whatever means, provided that no part thereof is
photocopied, scanned, electronically printed out or otherwise
produced by using the revised edition or any part thereof as the
physical base for the reproduction, and provided further that any
such publication contains a declaration stating that it is not an
official publication of the law in question.
Cap. 415. (3) The provisions of article 9 of the Copyright Act shall apply
mutatis mutandis  to sub-article (1) of this article.
(4) Any person who acts in breach of the provisions of this
article shall be guilty of an offence and shall on conviction be
liable to imprisonment for a term of one year or to a fine ( multa )
not exceeding five thousand liri or to both such fine and
imprisonment.
(5) The provisions of sub-article (4) of this article shall be
without prejudice to any right of action for damages pertaining to
the Government against any person committing the offence.
