ACT No. VIII of 2018 AN ACT to amend the Civil Code, Cap. 16.

I assent.

(L.S.)

DOLORES CRISTINA

Acting President

3rd April, 2018

ACT No. VIII of 2018

AN ACT to amend the Civil Code, 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 authority of the same, as follows:-

The short title of this Act is the Civil Code (Amendment) Act,

2018, and this Act shall be read and construed as one with the Civil

Code, hereinafter referred to as "the Code".

Article 1613 of the Code shall be renumbered as article

1613(1) and in the first proviso of the said sub-article (1) as

renumbered, immediately after the words "31st May, 2018" there shall

be added the words "subject to the provisions of this article" and after

sub-article (1) there shall be added the following new sub-articles

"(2) In the absence of an agreement between the lessee

and the person who is the sub-lessee before the 31st May, 2018

who has an interest in remaining in the tenement in case of a sub-

lease that expires on the 31st May, 2018, where the sub-leased

tenement consists of commercial premises which in the year

preceding the 31st May, 2018 is managed by the sub-lessee, the

person who before the 31st May, 2018 was the sub-lessee shall

have the right to continue managing his business from the

tenement, under those conditions as may be determined by the

Rent Regulation Board, for such period as may be established by

the Board which shall not be longer than the period of the lease

or be more than ten years, whichever is the shorter.

(3) A request for the sub-lessee to continue managing his

business from the leased tenement shall be made by means of an

application filed before the Rent Regulation Board by not later

than the 31st May, 2018 and that application shall contain the

reasons for which it is made. The Board shall not accede to the

request unless the applicant satisfies the Board that he will suffer

serious prejudice if he does not continue to manage his business

from the tenement.

(4) The application made by the sub-lessee in accordance

with sub-article (3) shall be notified to the owner and the lessee

who shall have the right to oppose the request.

(5) The hearing of the application referred to in sub-

articles (3) and (4) shall be regulated by the rules of procedure

applicable to applications filed before the Rent Regulation

Board, without prejudice to the Board’s right, at any stage of the

proceedings, to establish or change the amount of compensation

which the person who was the sub-lessee before the 31st May,

2018 is obliged to pay to the owner or to the lessee or both while

the proceedings are pending. There will be no right of appeal

from the decree establishing the said compensation.

(6) If the Board accedes to the request for the applicant

to continue managing his business from the premises, as

previously laid down in this article, the Board shall establish the

rent for the period after the 31st May, 2018 at an amount which is

in accordance with the value that the tenement could fetch if this

were to be leased on the market by its owner for the use that was

being made thereof during the year immediately preceding the

31st May, 2018. The Board shall also have the power to order the

payment of rent below the said market value if it is proven to the

satisfaction of the Board that the payment of the said market

value would impose harsh consequences on the person managing

his business from the tenement, in a way that would prejudice

that person’s living or that of persons working in the tenement.

If the Board decides that the payment of rent shall be

below the said market value, the Board shall also order in its

decision that the rent should be increased every year until it

reaches the said market value by not later than the first expiry of

rent due in the year 2027.

(7) When the Board establishes a new rent in accordance

with this article, it shall have the power to establish that such rent

shall be divided among the persons having a right over the

tenement and particularly between the owner of the tenement and

the person having another title of tenancy over the premises and

the manner in which such lease is to be divided.

(8) When the rent that must be paid by the person who

was the sub-lessee before the 31st May, 2018 is established in a

final manner, that rent must be paid as from the 1st June, 2018 in

a way that any compensation paid according to sub-article (5)

shall be deducted from the amount of arrears due.".

Passed by the House of Representatives at Sitting No. 96 of the 21st

March, 2018.

CLAUDETTE BUTTIGIEG

Deputy Speaker

RAYMOND SCICLUNA

Clerk of the House of Representatives

€0.36