ACT No. III of 2005 AN ACT to amend the Social Security Act, Cap. 318.

I assent.

G EORGE H YZLER

Acting President

8th March, 2005

ACT No. III of 2005

AN ACT to amend the Social Security Act, Cap. 318.

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 authority of the same, as follows>-

(1) The short title of this Act is the Social Security

(Amendment) Act, 2005, and this Act shall be read and construed as

one with the Social Security Act, hereinafter referred to as “the principal

(2) This Act shall be deemed to have come into force as

follows>-

(a) the provisions of article 11 with effect from the 3rd

January, 2004<

(b) the provisions of articles 3 and 4 with effect from the

5th January, 2004< and

(c) the provisions of articles 5 and 7 with effect from the

1st January, 2005< and

(d) the remaining provisions upon enactment of this Act.

Subarticle (1) of article 2 of the principal Act shall be amended Amendment

article 2 of the

as follows>-

principal Act.

(a) for the definition “benefit year” there shall be substituted

the following>-

“ “benefit year” means the period starting from the first

Monday in January and ending on the last Sunday before the

first Monday in January of the following year<”<

(b) in the definition “Director”, in the proviso thereto, for

the words, “either the Director (Social Security) of the

Commissioner of Inland Revenue” there shall be substituted the

words “the Director (Social Security) or the Commissioner of

Inland Revenue” and for the words “as the case may require<”

there shall be substituted the words “as the case may require>” and

immediately thereafter there shall be added the following new

proviso>

“Provided further that in respect of the provisions of sub-

article (1) of article 93 of this Act, and save as otherwise

provided, the word Director means the Director responsible

for the Department of the Elderly and Community Services,

and includes any public officer in his department designated

by him<”<

(c) in the definition “Minister” for the words, “or class of

purposes<” there shall be substituted the words “or class of

purposes>” and immediately thereafter there shall be added the

following proviso>

“Provided that in respect of the provisions of article 93,

130 and 131, and save as otherwise provided, the word

Minister means the Minister responsible for the elderly and

includes any officer designated by the said Minister for a

particular purpose or class of purposes<”<

(d) in the definition “severely disabled person” in paragraph

(c) thereof, for the words “TC II Deficiency< or” there shall be

substituted the words “TC II Deficiency” and immediately

thereafter there shall be added the words “Cerebellar Ataxia< or”<

and

(e) for the definition “Umpire” there shall be substituted

the following>–

“ “Umpire” means any umpire appointed under article

107 of this Act.”.

In subarticle (2) of article 3 of the principal Act, immediately

after the proviso thereto, there shall be added the following further

proviso>-

“Provided further that in the case of any married person who

is not legally separated or who has not been abandoned by his

spouse and who on the 4th January, 2004 was in insurable

employment and who after that date terminated his employment

so as to partake of an early retirement scheme, as may be approved

by the Minister responsible for finance, or is prior to the said date

recognized as such by the Director, such person shall, if he so

elects, be deemed to be a self-employed person if on his termination

from his employment he satisfies the minimum contribution

conditions required in terms of paragraph 2 of the Eleventh

Schedule, calculated from his eighteenth birthday up to the date of

his termination of his last employment.”.

Article 12 of the principal Act shall be amended as follows>-

(a) subarticle (2) thereof shall be renumbered as subarticle

(3)< and

(b) immediately after subarticle (1) thereof, there shall be

added the following new subarticle>

“(2) If a person in respect of whom subarticle (1) of

this article applies is a married person who is legally separated

and who is not gainfully occupied, then such person may opt

to have any maintenance paid to him by the other spouse

excluded from the calculation of means made in accordance

with the provisions of Part I of the Second Schedule to this

Act.” .

In article 27 of the principal Act –

(a) in subarticle (1), for sub-paragraph (ii) of paragraph (c)

to the words “of subarticle (3)” of the subsequent paragraph, there

shall be substituted the following>–

“(ii) his weekly means, calculated in accordance

with the provisions of Part V of the Second Schedule to

this Act, do not exceed the national minimum wage as

applicable to persons of eighteen years of age or over

established by a National Standard Order under the

Employment and Industrial Relations Act<

shall be entitled to a Disability Pension under this Act and

the highest rate of which, including any increases in terms of

the provisions of article 90 of this Act, shall be such in

accordance with Part III of the Sixth Schedule to this Act and

with the provisions of subarticle (3) of this article.”< and

(b) in subarticle (3), for the proviso starting with the words

“sohowever that save as provided for” to the words “payable to

the wife shall cease to be payable.” there shall be substituted the

following provisos>–

“Sohowever that, saving the provisions of article 96 of

this Act and of the second proviso to paragraph 4 of Part V of

the Second Schedule to this Act, where a married person and

the spouse both qualify for a pension under the provisions of

this article or of article 66 of this Act, any such pension as is

payable to one of the spouses shall cease to be payable>

Provided further that with effect from the 1st January,

2005, where a married person qualifies for a pension under

the provisions of this article, the applicable rate shall be that

payable in accordance with Part III of the Sixth Schedule to

this Act.”.

In subarticle (6) of article 28 of the principal Act, the words Amendment of

article 28 of the

“article 18(6)(a), (b) and (c).” shall be substituted by the words>

principal Act.

“article 18(6) (a), (b) and (c) of this Act, and where it has

been proven that the person concerned has acted negligently by

disregarding any safety precautions that he was obliged to take in

terms of the Occupational Health and Safety Authority Act, thereby

causing the accident that resulted in the injury>

Provided that where it is proven that the employer was in

breach of any of the provisions of the Occupational Health and

Safety Authority Act, the Director may claim from the employer Cap. 424.

any benefit paid to the insured person relating to such accident.”.

In subarticle (11) of article 30 of the principal Act, for the Amendment of

article 30 of the

words from “in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Code<” to principal Act.

the words “and the Director shall take due account of such reports in

the exercise of his discretion under this subarticle.” there shall be

substituted the words “in accordance with the provisions of the Civil

Code>”.

Article 31 of the principal Act shall be amended as follows>-

(a) in paragraph (a) thereof, the words “where an allowance

under article 76 is being paid in respect of such child” shall be

deleted< and

(b) in paragraph (b) thereof, the words, “where an allowance

under article 76 is being paid in respect of such son or daughter”

shall be deleted.

Article 58 of the principal Act shall be amended as follows>-

(a) in paragraph (a) thereof, in sub-paragraph (ii), for the

words “was payable< and” there shall be substituted the words “was

payable<”<

(b) in paragraph (b) thereof, for the words “bona fide.” there

shall be substituted the words “bona fide< and”<

(c) immediately after paragraph (b) thereof, there shall be

added the following new paragraph>

“(c)

any accelerated increment.”.

In article 84 of the principal Act, immediately after subarticle

(2) thereof there shall be added the following new subarticle>

“(3) The Minister responsible for the elderly may, from time

to time and with the concurrence of the Minister responsible for

finance, make regulations for the purpose of establishing the

contribution due by residents of State Financed Residential Services

in terms of article 93 of this Act.”.

In article 93 of the principal Act, immediately after subarticle

(4) thereof, there shall be added the following new subarticle>-

“(5) Where no benefit, pension, bonus, assistance or

allowance is due to a resident of a state financed residential service,

and whether such benefit, pension, bonus, assistance or allowance

is payable under this Act or from any other source, or where such

benefit, pension, bonus, assistance or allowance is less than the

amount that is due by way of a contribution, as specified in terms

of subarticle (1) of this article, the Director of the Department for

the Elderly and Community Services shall be empowered to enter

into a contract with such resident and, or any other party, as the

case may require, for any contribution that may be due to

Government in accordance with the provisions of this article.”.

Article 107 of the principal Act shall be amended as follows>– Amendment of

article 107 of the

principal Act.

(a) for the marginal note there shall be substituted the

following words “Appointment of Umpires.”<

(b) for subarticle (1) thereof there shall be substituted the

following>–

“(1) For the purposes of this Act, the Minister may

appoint one or more persons to serve as Umpires in cases that

may be referred to them from time to time, sohowever that>–

(a) in all cases the person so appointed shall have

held a warrant to practise the profession of advocate in

Malta for at least seven years< and

(b) the appointment shall be for a period of one

year.”<

(c)

subarticle (5) thereof shall be deleted< and

(d)

subarticle (6) shall be renumbered as subarticle (5)

thereof.

Immediately after article 116A of the principal Act there shall Addition of new

article 116B to the

be added the following new article 116B>–

principal Act.

116B. (1) Without prejudice to the provisions of this

of arrears of

Act,

and

with effect from the 3rd January, 2005, any arrears

contributions. due in respect of any unpaid Class One or Class Two

contributions for any period prior to the 1st January, 1998,

shall be due and payable to the Commissioner of Inland

Revenue.

(2) For the purpose of enforcing the payment of

such arrears of unpaid contributions as mentioned in subarticle

(1) of this article, the powers vested in the Director of Social

Security by Part X of this Act may also be exercisable by the

Commissioner of Inland Revenue.”.

In subarticle (1) of article 130 of the principal Act, for the

words “one from the Department for the Welfare of the Elderly, one

from the Department of Welfare and” there shall be substituted the words

“one from the Department for the Elderly and Community Services,

one from the Department of Social Security and”.

In subarticle (1) of article 132 of the principal Act,

immediately after the words “in the Commissioner of Inland Revenue”

there shall be added the words “, or in the Director of the Department

for the Elderly and Community Services”.

Passed by the House of Representatives at Sitting No. 244 of 2nd March,

2005. A NTON T ABONE

Speaker

R ICHARD J. C AUCHI

Clerk to the House of Representatives

Mitbug[ fl-Istamperija tal-Gvern — Printed at the Government Printing Press