Act No. m of 1994 AN A CTto am~nd the CivUCode, CAp. 16.

I assent .

( L.S.)

CEN SU T ABONE

President

IlthFcbruary, 1994

Act No. m of 1994

AN A CTto am~nd the CivUCode, CAp. 16.

BE IT ENACTED by the President , by and with the advice and

consent of the House of Representatives, in this present Parliament

assembled, and by the authori ty of the same, as follows :~

may be cited as the Civil Code SIoonlido ....

( I)

This

Act

(Amendment) Act, 1994, and shall be read and construed as onc with the ........ - _ ....

Civil <Adc, hereinafter referred to as "the principallaw~ .

(2) This Act shall come into force on such dale as the

Minister responsible for J ustice may by notice in the Gazette establish.

1. In subsection (6) of section 125 of the priocipallaw, for the

words ~seclion5 248 and 249, subsections (2) and (3) of seclion 251 and

sections 252 , 260 and 261- there shall be substituted the words "sections

248.249, 252, 260, 261 and, subjec.:t to the provisions of section 269,

section 2S I".

J.

In subsection (2) of section 238 of the principal law, for the

words "the Director of the Publ it Registry, one of the Assistant

Directors or of the o(fkers mentioned in subsection (lA) of settion

306. n, there shall be substituted the words "the Director of the Public

Registry.n.

Exttnt of amendment

\.

For sectio n 3 the re shall besubstit\Jted th e following

3. (I) Each of the said offi ces shall be

\Jnde r the management of an officer called Director

of the Public Registry, herei nafte r refe rred to as

the Director who shall also be the T reasurer of the

Public Registry, and sball receive o n accoun t of the

Governmen t the fees leviable in accorda nce wi th

the Tariff in the rlISt Scbedule hereto.

A

(2) In the Public Regis try Office of

0ftI0t. la,

:::'''"' ValIetta (Malta) there shall also be Assistant

DiruIonol Directors woo shall be so designated by the

_hbk ' Director bom amoog the officers re ferred to in

REi P,. subsection ( 1) of Section 306 of the Civil Code.

(3) Notwithstanding the provisions of

section 306 of the Civil Code, any reference made

c.p. 16.

to the Director in sections 35 and 37 of this Act shall

nOI be construed as incl uding a reference 10 any

othe r officer referred to in this section.

(4) Before enterin g upon the duties of

their offtce, the officeR referred to in this section

shall take before the Court of Appeal the oath of

allegiance set out in the Constitution of Malta, and

the oath of office as follows;

promise tvld swtor to

U [

• , r o r . Er Er o r o r '

observe failhfully all /he laws of Maltll niDtitlg to my

atria and /0 perform fdilhfully and wilh all honnty

and exactnns the dutiu of DinclOr JAssisUllll

Djr«:lorIO/ficer of/in the Public Registry to wbQr

of my knowledge and ability. So hdp me God. ".

2. For secti on 37 there sha ll be substit uted the

following

Fis-subartikolu (6) ta ' l-anikolu 125 tal-Iigi printipali. minn ok

il-kliem "ta' ]-artikoli 248 u 249, l8S-5Ubartikoli (2) u (3) ta ' l-a rt ikolu

251 uta' l-artikoli 252, 260, 261- gI'Iandhom jidblu 1·klicm ~ ta' l-a n ikoli

248, 249, 252, 260 u 261 u, bla hsara gfIad-dispotizzjonijicl la' I· arti kolu

2fn, I-artikolu 25 I" .

Fis-subarlikolu (2) la'l-artik olu 238 lal,lisi prinCipali . minnok

J,

il-kliem "' mid -Dircu ur lar-Regislru Pubbliku , wi ched mill-Assislcnli

Direlluri jcw mill-uffi~ja l i msc mmijin fis-subartikolu (l A) la' I-anikolu

306. M. gh l1ndhom jidhlu I-klicm "mid -Direll ur Il1r-Rcgistru Pubbliku ....

4, Minnu fi h wan s-subartik olu (I ) la' I-artik olu 239 la l-ligi

prinCipali gh andu jitd ied dan li gej

"(2) Kopja la' alt, registrala kifprovdul fis-suba n ik? lu ( I) u

Irasmessa lid- Diretlur b'makna fadjmife fOlo-elc ttrika, Jew kull

kopja vera laghha , ghandh a litqics li Ikun kopja vera u aWlenli ka

ghall-finijiel kollha lal-ligi sakemm din Ikun iffi nnala mid-Direttur

Ii jirtievi dak il-facsjmile. ".

L-al1i kolu 2S I 11I1-ligi printipali ghandu jigi (' mendal kif gej

Immediately after subscttion ( I) of section 239 of the princi pal

law there shall be added the following

~(2)

A copy of an act, registe red as provided in subsection

(I) and transmitted to the Director by photo-electric facsimile

mach ine. or any true copy thereof, shall be deemed a true and

authentic copy for all purposes of law provided it is signed by the

Director receiving such facsimile . ~.

Section 25 1 of the principal law shall be amended as follows

(a) in subsection (I) thereof, for the words Wslgned by the

DircclOr. ~ there shall be substituted the words "signed by the

Director of the Public Registry of Malta or the Director of the

Public Regislry of 0010,"

(b) in subsection (3) thereof, for the words "The Director

shall also, if requ ired , give" there shall be substituted the words

~The Directors mentioned in subsecl:ion (1) shall also, if required ,

give"; and

(c) subsection (4) thereof shall be deleted.

Immediately aflersubsection (4) of section 253 of the principal

law there shall be added the following subsection

In any such action, the declaration referred 10 in

subsections (4) a nd (5) of section 158 of the Code of Organisation

a nd Civil Procedu re may also be confirmed on oath by a ny officer

rderred to in subsection ( I) or in subsection (4) of the said section

In section 261 of the principal law, for the words ~in $ubsect.iOfl

( IAt, wherever they occur, there shall be substituted the words -in

subsection (I) n.

In subsection (4) of section 269 of the priucipallaw, for the

words "a cenified copy, or a certified translation into English or

Maltese, of any entryn there shall be sub&tituted the words "a ce rtified

copy of any entry signed by the Director".

For 5(:ction 271 of the principal law there shall be substituted

the following

271. ( I) The Minister responsible for Just ice may

make regulatioM

(a) providing for the making of duplicates of

original acts of civil status o r other documents relative to

civil status , entered in the Public R egistry in vinue orthis

Code or of any ot he r law. as well as duplicates of Ihe

relative registers of sueh acts or docume nts. as well as

duplicates of the relative iode:.: of such acts, documents

o r registers whC'Te the original act. document . registe r or

index has been lost, dr.slroyed o r damaged, whether such

loss, destruction o r damage has occurred by wear and

lear or otherwise;

(b) prescribing the mode in which s uch duplicates

.hall be prepared and authenticated ;

(c) prescribi ng that any acts, documents , registers

or indices referred to in paragraph (a) be reproduced by

microfilming , and the mode in which such reproductions

are to be made, stored and made accessib le 10 the public;

(d) prescribing the manner in whic h reproductions

made by mkrofilming and copies the reof may be

authe nticated;

(e) providing for the comput e risation. including

storage of informatio n taken from any act or docume nt

ente red in the Public Registry and for the production of

documents containing sta te ments of such informa tion

and the authen tication of such documents;

(f) prescribing the form of the application for the

issue of ce rtifica tes containing a fuil copy or an Cltraet of

any act , document , registe r or indell ;

(g) providing for any matter incide ntal

or

supplemen ta ry to any of the foregoing provisions.

(2) Any duplicat e copy made in accordance with

regulations made under s ubsectio n ( I) shall fo r all inte nts and

purpc.!5oeS, replace the relative original act, docume nt , register

or index. - .

For section 295 of the principal law the re shall be substituted s.boIit""""

the following

295. (I) Any judgement or othe r decisio n given by a

compet e nt co urt whereby a registered marriage is a nnulled or

the status resulting therefrom is aff«led shall. at the request

of a ny person, be en te red in the register by means ofa note in

.he mare in.

(2) The person makin g the request shall deliver

10 the Director an authe ntic copy of the rele vant judgement

or othe r decision.

(3) 1be Directo r shall also e nter , by means of a

no te in the margin of a n act in respect of a registered

marriage , a ny declaratio n made by a married wo man o n the

Fo rm Q delivered by her in acoordance with the provisions of

subsection (3) of section 89 of the Civil Code (Amendement)

(No . 2) Act, 1993, as well as any revision to the maiden

sum ame o r a ny prohibition of use of the husband's sumame

referred to in a note of personal se paration between the

spouses enrolled in accordance with section 62A of tltisCode,

and a refe re nce to the date and place of ma rriage shall be

made in any s uch note of e nrolment . ~ .

11 . Fo r section 306 of the principal law there shall be s ubstituted

the fo llo wing

- ...... 306. (I) Any officer who holds the degree of Docto r

of Laws and either a warrant to practise as an advocate or a

warrant to practise as a no tary public a nd who performs

duties in the Public Registry m ay ellercise all or a ny of the

functions which are under a ny provision of this Code o r of any

other law assigned to the Directorofthe Public Registry, a nd

that law :ohall be construed accord ingly.

(2) In the exercise of a ny such funetioo , the aid

offlCCr shall have lhesamc powers a nd lhesameobligations as

arc conferred or imjX)Sed upon the Director. without

prejudice to the provisions of subsection (4) of this section.

(3) The words "signed by the DirCClo r o r words

H

10 similar effect, with reference to ce rtificates of civil stalus ,

sball be taken to include any seal, emble m or signature made

or processed by photogra phi<: means. by print o r in a ny o lher

fa nn at the discretion of the Director as further authenticated

by the si&nalure of the issuing officer authorised for the

purpose by the Director.

(4) The officers refmed to in this section &hall ,

in the exercise o rlheir functions under this Code or anvOllle r

law, be subject to the authority. d irection and control of an

Assistant Director so delegated by the Directo r of the Pu blic

Reptry and referred to in this section as the Deputy

Director

Provided that the exercise of the Deputy

Director's powers under this section shall be without

prejudice to the overall authority of the Director.

(5) The Director of the Public Registry s.hau be

the only competent person to represent in any capacity the

Public Registry in any legal proocedings under this Code o r

M

anyotherlaw.

•

The e nactme nt men tioned in the first column of the Schedule

to th is Act shall have effect s ubject to th e ame ndm ents specified in

relation thereto in the $Ccond column of th at Schedule.

During the said inspections the Visitor

shall ellamine whether the officers referred to in

section 3 of this Act have complied with the

provisions of this Act and of any other law and may,

for every contraven tion, inflict upon the offiocr

responsible, a fi ne (Ilmmendo) not exceeding five

Maltese liri

Provided that where the contravention

consists in the omission of anything which is

required to be done under this Act or under any

other law and it is not possible for the court to

ascertai n who was responsible for such omission.

the contravention shall be dee med to have been

committed by the Director and the punishme nt

shaD be infiicled accordingly.

H .

A

'"

Passe:l by the House of Represenlatives at Silting No. 224 of 1st February, 1994.

LAWRENCE GONZI

S~(Jktr

RICHARD J. CAUCH I

Clerk to 'he House of RtprutfllaJi~'tS

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'ppubblik . . ..... Dipar,; ....

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1.1j,bu&tI II- ' >tamperi)a

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