ACT No. xxv of 1990 AN ACT IQ makf' provisiOll jor Ihe liCl!'l1sing of Al'ctionu rs and 10 .tgulme auctionu ,ing.

I asM: nL

CENSU T AIlONIl

President

26t h June. 1990

ACT No. xxv of 1990

AN ACT IQ makf' provisiOll jor Ihe liCl!'l1sing of Al'ctionu rs and 10

.tgulme auctionu ,ing.

BE IT ENACTED by tIN: PresideDl. by and wi th the advice 3nd

consent of the House of Reprcsc ntat ives. in Ihis p resent Parliament

asse mbled , and by the autho rity of the same. as follows:-

..... ,. come I. illlo This force Act 011 may

be cited as the Auclio necl'1 Act . 1990, and shall

such da le as the Minister responsible for trade may

by notice in the Guette establish.

U ghandu jidhol fis-sehh fdik id-data li I-Ministru responsabbli ghall-

kummen: jis\a' b'avvii fil·Gazzelta jistabbiliui,

F'dan I·AII, sakemm ir-rabta tal·kliem ma tlmnx tel'llieg

In this Act. un less the context otherwise requi res

"antique" means a work of an or an object of a geological .

palaeontological, archaeological or antiquarian imponance and

whi ch is 31 least onc hundred yeal'll old

"a uctioneer" means a person who con ducts publ ic sales by

a uction but doe s not include a n auctioneer of animals. including

fish. whether alive of dead. food or agric ult ural produce ;

" M inist cr~ means the Mini!;te r responsible for trade and

except for the purposes of subsection (2) o f section 3 and section

S o f this Act. includes, to the extent of the aut hori ty given. any

person authorised by the Minister in that behalf for any purpose

o f this Act;

Mprcscribed" means prescribed by regu lat io ns under this Act .

( I) No person shall act as auctione er at any auction unless

he is so licensed under the provisions of this Act .

(2) The provisions of subsectton (I) of this section shall not

appl y to public sales by auction conducted under the authority of the

Courts of Law , if·Momi, or any other public institution o r department

authorised by the Min ister to that effect.

(1) Licences to act as an auctioneer may be gran ted by the u.:. ..... '" bo

Mini ste r under such conditions as may be pre$Cribed.

iowodb,o M;n;" ••.

(2) Such licenees shall be valid for tile year of issue and may

be renewed for funher periods of one year each ending on 31st

Decembe r of the year of renewal.

S. The Minister may ma ke regulations for the belle r ca rrying P~. '" make

o ut of any of the provisions of this Act and in particu lar may make .. ,~Iobono.

regulations

(a)

regulating the business of auctioneers;

(b) prescribing the fees chargeable for the grant or renewal

o f licences issued to auctioneers;

(e) prescribing the fees or commissions th at may be

chargeable by auctioneers

(d)

prescribing th e age and other qualifications for e ligibility

10 obtain a licence under this Act;

(e) prescribing the registers, books, accounts and records

tllat shall be ke pt by auctioneers, the form and manner in which

such documents shall be kept. and providing for inspections

tllerwf;

(f)

preseribing the requirements of notices of auctions;

(g) providing for inspections of any premises used by

auctioneers for or in connection with their business

(h) prescribing the duties of auctioneers and the notices to

be given by them in respect of any antique to be SQld by auction

(i) prescribing any other matter tllat may be necessary for

giving effect to the provisions of this Act.

II-Ministru jista' jaghmel regolamenti gliall -ahjar twelliq tad-

dispozizzjonijict ta' dan I- An u partikolarme nt jista' jaghmcl

regolamcnli -

(a)

li jirregolaw ix-xoghol ta' I-irkan tatu r;

(b) li jippreskrivu d-drittijict li gha ndhom jintalbu ghall-

gboli jew tigdid la' lieenzi malirugin [il irkantaluri ;

(t) [i jipprcskrivu d-drillijict jcw rati la ' kumm issjoni li

jistghu Jinlalbu mill· irkant aturi;

(d) li jippreskrivu I·ela u kwalifiki olirajn mclitiega biex

wiehed jkun cligibbli li jikscb litcnza bis·sahha la' dan I-All ;

(e) [i jippreskrivu r-regist ri, kotba, konteggi u notam enti li

ghandhom jinzammu minn irkan taturi, il-mod u I-ghamla kif dawk

id·dokumenti gha ndhom jinzammu, 0 [i jipprovdu ghall-

ispezzjonijiel la' dawk id-dokument i.

li jippreskrivu I·htigiet dwar avviZi la' irkanli;

(f)

(g) li jipprovd u glial ispezzjonijiet la' xi fond i ui ali minn

irkantaluri ghal jcw in konnessjoni max-xoghol tagh ho m;

(h) li jippreskrivo d-d mirijict la' irkantato ri 0 I-avvizi li huma

ghandhom jaghmlu dwar xi oggetl antik li gh andu jinbi egh b 'irkan t;

(i) li jippreskrivu ku n haga ohra li tista' tkun mehticga sabiex

lagbti schh lid-dispozizzjo nijiet ta ' da n I-Atl.

6, Min jikscr xi wahda mi d-dispozizzjonijiel la' dan I- All jew xi

regolament li jsir bis-sahha tieghu, jew li jikser xi kundizzjon i li jkun

hcmm fx i licenza mahruga bis-sahha la' dan I-An ikon hat i. hlief je kk

I-atl ikun jikkosti twixxi reat ik tar serju lah t xi ligi olira, la' rcat kontra

dan I-Atl u ghandu gha[ koll reat jehel meta jinstab hati mill -Qorti

tal -Magistrali tal -Pulil,ija Gudi zzjarja, multa la' mhux inqas minn

ham sin lira iida ta' mhux itjed minn hames mill lira; u l-qorti liSla',

b'iieda ma ' dik il·piena, lordna s-suspensjoni jew ir-revoka la' lice nza

moghtija bis-sahlia ta ' dan [-All jew li dak iI-h ali jkun temporanjament

jew permanefilemefil skwal ifl kal milli jkollu lieen1.3 hhal dik.

7,

Irkantator iku n responsabbl i gbai-zamm a fiz-igur 0 b'mod

ta' I·irk.nt.tu r ~.I xieraq

ta' kull oggell li jitqicghcd fil-kustodja tieghu ghal bcjgh bl-

~~g!Id, " irkant , minn x'hin jitqieghed fil -kustodja tieghu mill-bcjjicgh sa x'hin

dan jingabar minn gtlalldu mi lln ~errcj jew sa x'hin jinghala Iura lill-

bejjicgh jekk jibqa' ma jinbieghx. u huwa gha ndu jaghmellaj;eb ghal

kull hu r, tlsara jcw telllen la' kull oggett btlal dak li jigri fi lwaql li

l-oggcll ikun (iI· kustodja ta' I-i rkanlalur. jekk dak il,ksur, dik il-tlsara

Jew dak iHelficn ikunu !raw b'konsegwcnza lal·lraskuragni la' I-

irkantalur. in·nuqqa§ la' tlsicb lieghu . jew _i omissjoni licgJIU.

Any person who contravenes any of the provisions of this Act

or any regulation made thereunder, or infringes any condition imposed

in any licence under this Act shall, unless the aCI constitutes a more

serious offence under a ny other law. be guil ty of an offence against this

Act and shall for eac ll offence be liable on conviction by the Cou rt of

Magistra tes of Judicial Police, to a fine ( mU/IIJ) of not less than fifty

Maltese liri but not exceeding five hundred Ma ltese lir,; and the court

may , in ~ddition to suc h penalt)" order the suspension or revocation of

any Ike n,e granted under this Act or that such offender be disqualified

temporarily or permanently from holding any such licence .

An auctionee r shall be responsible for the safe and proper Uoobi~'Y of

keeping of any article placed in his cuslOdy wilh him for sale hy auction , """",b

from the time it is passed into his , ustody by tile seller until the lime la .... cu .. "",.

it is collect ed from him by a buyer or return ed to IlIe seller if unsold ,

and shall make good any breakage, damage o r 10$1; of a ny such item

occurri ng du ring the li me that it is in the C'\Istooy of the auctionee r , if

such breakage. damage or loss has occurred due 10 the auctioneer s

negligence, imprudence or omission.

(1 ) An auctioneer shall be respon sible for the rorrectncss

of the contents of any ClItalogue used for the pu rpose of an auction

and for the correctness of any description of the goods to be sold by

auction which he may give even verbally during an auction,

(2)

Without prejudice 10 any civil or other liability of the

auctio neer if within a period of O IlC month from th e last day of the

a uction an item sold at an auction ~ found to be not accord ing to the

description shown in the catalogue or otherwise given by the auctioneer,

the auctioneer shall o n request by the buyer refund to the buyer the

full amount paid for the article together with any fee or commission

that may have been paid by Ihe buyer. An ~c'ion by a buyer who shall

have made a req uest to an auctionee r within the lime mentioned in

th is su bsection, to enforce the righ ts granted to h im by th is subse"ion,

must be brought not late r tha n th ree months from the date of the said

request, which te rm may not be in terrupted o r suspended.

Th e provisions of th is Act shall nOI be deemed 10 exempl any

person from any requirement o r liabi lity imposed by or under any

othe r law.

( I) Subject 10 the provisions o f subsections (2) and (3) of

this se"ion and wi thout prejudice !O anything done or omilled 10 be

done or to any liabil ity incurred thereunder th e Au"ioneen; Law is

he reby repealed .

(2) Any auctioneer who is licensed unde r the Auct ioneers

Law on the coming inlo fora: o f this A" and any person who has been

work ing with a licensed auctioneer oontinually and excl usivcly in the

business of auctioneering for a period of at least five yean; immediately

preceding the co ming into force of Ihis Act shull be deemed to be in

possession of a licence under this Act. and unless such licence ex pires

at an eaTlier date il shall be deemed to expire on the 31st day of

December. 1990.

(3) Se"ion 4 of th e Auct ione n; Law and the Tariff annexed

to that Law shall until new fecs arc prescribed in accordance wit h this

Act, continu e to app ly 10 sales by auction.

Passed bYlhe House ofRepresen talivt'S al Sill ing No. 3880flhe 19th J une. 1990.

LA WKENCIi GOSZI

S~ak~r

P . M USCAT TEKK IlUl. E

Clerk 10 Ihe House of R(preS~lIIulives

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