ACT No. X of 2023 AN ACT to amend the Housing Authority Act, Cap. 261 and ancillary provisions.

I assent.

(L.S.)

FRANK BEZZINA

Acting President

24th March, 2023

ACT No. X of 2023

AN ACT to amend the Housing Authority Act, Cap. 261 and

ancillary provisions.

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 Housing Authority

(Amendment) Act, 2023 and this Act shall be read and construed as

one with the Housing Authority Act, hereinafter referred to as "the

Article 4 of the principal Act shall be amended as follows

(a)

sub-article (2) thereof shall be amended as follows

(i) paragraph (h) thereof shall be substituted by the

following new paragraph

"(h) carry out evictions and inspections in

accordance with article 29, and enforce its rights at

law or in terms of the schemes administered by the

Authority, or its contractual rights emanating from its

lease agreements with third party beneficiaries of its

schemes in all cases related to property owned or

administered by it;";

(ii) paragraph (l) thereof shall be substituted by the

following new paragraph

"(l) make any form of investment and, or

administer any moneys received from public entities

as it deems proper and expedient according to its

functions;";

(iii) paragraph (p) thereof shall be substituted by the

following new paragraph

"(p) allocate properties owned by it or

administered by it and limitedly transfer those

properties owned by it to persons, both natural and

legal, according to the circumstances, who qualify to

benefit from the active schemes of social

accommodation as published, managed, administered

and reviewed by the Authority from time to time;";

(iv) in paragraph (p) thereof the words "any of its

powers." shall be substituted by the words "any of its

powers;" and immediately thereafter, there shall be added

the following new paragraphs

"(q) recognize any physical and, or legal

person as a tenant within a property owned by it or

administered by it;

(r) allocate properties owned by it or

administered by it and limitedly transfer those

properties owned by it to foundations, associations,

voluntary organisations or other juridical persons

recognised as such by the Commissioner for

Voluntary Organisations, which qualify as

beneficiaries under active schemes of specialised

accommodation as published, managed, administered

or reviewed by the Authority from time to time;

(s) generally do all such things as may be

incidental or conducive to any of its functions or to

the exercise of any of its powers."; and

(b)

immediately after sub-article (6) thereof there shall

be added the following new sub-article

" Functions of the

(7) The Authority may, with the consent of the

Authority.

Minister, take part in the formation of a company,

foundation, association or any other legal body

which is recognised in accordance with the

provisions of the Second Schedule to the Civil

Code, or enter into joint ventures or partnerships for

the purpose of fulfilling any of its functions.".

Immediately after article 4B of the principal Act there shall be

added the following new article

Minnufih wara l-artikolu l-ġdid 4Ċ tal-Att prinċipali għandu Żieda ta’

artikolu ġdid fl-

jiġi miżjud dan l-artikolu ġdid li ġej

Att prinċipali.

The Authority may also gather information,

details and statistics about all the activities and private

residential leases falling within the scope of

applicability of the Private Residential Leases Act, in

order to analyse factual situations arising in the private

residential lease market and subsequently, both on its

own or in collaboration with other public entities, may

from time to time also publish statistics, price indexes,

guidelines and policy documents about the private

residential leases in Malta and Gozo.".

4. Immediately after the new article 4C of the principal Act there

shall be added the following new article as follows

(1) Where a person leaves things that

constitute an obstruction in common parts, or on any

land, or within property owned by the Authority or in

any way administered by the Authority in accordance

with the provisions of this Act, or upon which the

Authority exercises any right emanating from an

agreement in force with third parties, without the

explicit permission of the Authority, and such

obstruction molests the rights of third parties or the

Authority and this notwithstanding the service of

judicial letters to the person by the Authority,

containing an order to remove the obstructive thing

within fifteen (15) days from the date of the service, the

Chairman and, or officials of the Authority delegated

by said Chairman, shall have the power to remove such

obstructive things.

(2) In the case of sub-article (1), the expenses

incurred by the Authority in removing the obstructive

things shall be considered as debts due to the Authority

and the Authority shall have the right to recover these

debts in accordance with the provisions of this Act.

(3) The Authority shall have the right to dispose of

the obstructive things as it deems fit and proper if the

owner of the obstructive things fails to pick them up

from the Authority within seven (7) days from when the

things are removed according to sub-article (1).

(4) In any case the Authority shall not be held liable

for any damages or breakages except those arising solely

from its responsibility to avoid gross negligence.".

Immediately after the new article 4D of the principal Act Addition of new

article to the

there shall be added the following new article

principal Act.

4E. (1) The Housing Authority shall have the

Housing Authority

right to institute any administrative or civil procedures

as administrator of

which the Authority may avail of in accordance to law

if it is found that

(a) any person or persons occupy any

property and, or land owned by the Authority and,

or administered by the Authority without any

valid legal title or by means of any abusive

pretext which is contrary to the provisions of this

Act, of an agreement in force between the

Authority and third parties, or any other

regulations or orders made according to this Act;

(b) any alterations or structural changes

are carried out within any property owned by the

Authority without the express consent of the

Authority, or any development on any land or

airspace owned by the Authority is carried out

without the express consent of the Authority or if

any person fails to comply or to cause compliance

with any condition, restriction or other limitation

imposed by the Authority;

(c) any person or persons changed the use

of the property from that originally stipulated in

any agreement entered into with the Authority

without the written consent of said Authority; and

(d) any person or persons caused harm,

damages and destruction to the Authority’s or

third parties’ property due to acts or omissions of

the person or persons and, or if such person or

persons also breached the terms and, or

conditions of the agreement executed with the

Authority, as applicable.

(2) In the cases stipulated in this article, the

expenses incurred by the Authority in remedying these

violations shall be considered as debts due to the

Authority and the Authority shall have the right to

recover these debts in accordance with the provisions of

this Act.

(3) The Authority shall have the right to make a

specific request to the competent Court or Tribunal to

order any person and, or persons, who have committed

any structural alteration or change as contemplated in

paragraph (b) of sub-article (1) to revert the property in

question to the conditions it was in prior to the

execution of the alteration or change which is found to

be in breach of the provisions of this Act or any

agreement entered into with the Authority, and such

order shall be carried out at the sole expense of the

person or persons who caused the illicit changes.

(4) In any case, the Authority shall not be held

liable for any damages or harm caused by the acts and, or

omissions of occupants of residential properties which

are owned by the Authority or administered by it, when

such acts and, or omissions are found to have been

committed by said occupants without the consent of the

Authority as contemplated in this article.".

Sub-article (1) of article 5 of the principal Act shall be

substituted by the following new sub-article

"(1) The affairs, business and the carrying out of the

functions of the Authority shall be the responsibility of

the Board

Provided that subject to the provisions of article

7 A a n d t o a n y d i r e c t i o n s of t h e s a i d Bo a r d , t he

administrative conduct of the Authority, the organisation

and devising of any plan of action of the Board, the

formal communication of official decisions to the Chief

Executive Officer and the monitoring of implementation

of the directions taken by the said Board, shall be the

responsibility of the Chairman of the Authority, who shall

also have such other powers as may from time to time be

delegated to him by the Board.".

In sub-article (1) of article 7 of the principal Act, the words Amendment of

"The Board shall meet as often as necessary or expedient, but in no article

principal Act.

case less frequently than once a month." shall be substituted by the

words "The Board shall meet as often as necessary or expedient, but in

no case less than once every six (6) weeks.".

Immediately after article 7 of the principal Act there shall be Addition of new

article to the

added the following new article

principal Act.

7A. (1) The Minister, after consultation with the

"Appointment of the

Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Authority,

s h a l l a p p o i n t a C h i e f E x e c u t i v e O ff i c e r. S u c h

appointment shall be for a period of three (3) years

which may be extended for further periods of three (3)

years each. The conditions pertaining to the

qualification for the appointment of the members of the

Board and to their holding office as members of the

Authority referred to in article 6 shall also pertain to the

appointment of the Chief Executive Officer.

(2) The Chief Executive Officer shall at the

request of the Board attend the meetings of the Board

but shall not vote at such meetings

Provided that the Authority may, if it so deems

fit, request the Chief Executive Officer not to attend

any of the meetings or any part of a meeting during

which the recommendations and decisions taken by the

Chief Executive Officer are discussed.

(3) The Chief Executive Officer shall be

responsible for the implementation of the objectives of

the Authority as set by the Board. In the exercise of his

functions, and without prejudice to the generality of the

foregoing, the Chief Executive Officer shall

(a) assume the overall supervision and

control of the Departments led by Executive

Heads, including the establishment of Units,

Divisions and Sections which in the opinion of

the Chief Executive Officer may be necessary for

the proper functioning of the Authority and assign

to such departments their respective duties;

(b) co-ordinate the workings of the

Departments, Units, Divisions and Sections and

assign to the Departments such duties which are

by, or in accordance with, the provisions of this

Act vested in such Departments, Units, Divisions

and Sections;

(c) develop the necessary strategies for

the ongoing implementation of the objectives of

the Authority;

(d) give his advice on any matter referred

to him or on any matter on which he considers his

advice necessary or expedient;

(e) carry out such other functions and

duties as the Board may assign to him from time

to time;

(f) establish and co-ordinate working

groups that are set up from time to time to draft

regulations.

(4) The Chief Executive Officer shall not hold any

other office or position without the consent of the

Board of the Authority.

(5) The Chief Executive Officer may be dismissed

by the Board at any time for a just cause and it shall be

deemed to be a just cause if the Board determines that

he has not achieved the targets and objectives set for

him by the Board.

(6) In the absence of the Chief Executive Officer,

or if the Chief Executive Officer is unable to perform

the functions of his office, whether under this or any

other provision of this Act, the Chairperson of the

Board may, following consultation with the Chief

Executive Officer, appoint any one of the officers or

employees of the Authority to act as Acting Chief

Executive Officer.".

In sub-article (1) of article 11 of the principal Act, the words

"The Authority shall, not later than six weeks after the end of each

financial year," shall be substituted by the words "The Authority shall,

not later than twelve (12) weeks after the end of each financial

year,".Addition of new article to the principal Act.

Immediately after article 11 of the principal Act there shall be Addition of new

article to the

added the following new article

principal Act.

" Special powers of

In addition to the powers conferred on him by

the Chairman of

any

or all of the foregoing provisions of this Act or by

the Authority.

the provisions of any other law, the Chairman shall also

have the power to

(a) administer oaths for the purpose of the

proper performance of his functions, as well as

for the proper administration and execution of this

Act, which power he may also delegate to any

other officer of the Authority;

(b) following consultation with the Board,

order any tenant occupying any dwelling or site

upon which the Authority enjoys any right or with

regard to which it shall be obliged to repair or

maintain, to relocate temporarily in another

dwelling or an alternative site which is owned by

the same Authority or upon which it enjoys any

right, due to the presence of imminent danger and

in order for the Authority to be able to carry out

urgent structural repairs or any maintenance or

other urgent works within the Authority’s property

or land in accordance with the provisions of article

4(1)(e) and (3)(a) of the Act, and the Authority

shall also have the right to request the assistance of

the Executive Police to execute such order;

(c) following consultation with the Board,

request any person, including any public officer in

the service of the Government, any bank or any

firm, partnership, company or corporation to

furnish him with all the information that he may

require in order to be able to arrive at any

decision or to revise any decision, which he may

take under the foregoing provisions of this Act.

Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law

requiring secrecy in force before, on or after the

coming into force of this Act, but without

prejudice to the provisions of the General Data

Protection Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679)

(‘GDPR’) and the Data Protection Act, the said

officers are hereby authorised to furnish the

Chairman with any such information that he may

require

Provided that except insofar as may be

necessary for the proper discharge of his

functions and duties or for the purpose of a

prosecution, the Chairman shall be bound to

observe secrecy with respect to any information

furnished to him under this paragraph, which

apart from this paragraph, ought to be treated as

secret, and the provisions of article 133 of the

Criminal Code shall apply to any wilful breach of

such duty

Provided further that the provisions of

the immediately foregoing proviso shall also

apply to any officer or other employee of the

Authority concerned, who for any reason

whatsoever, becomes aware of such information

during the proper discharge of his duties;

(d) request any person who is applying to

become a beneficiary under any scheme provided,

managed, administered or reviewed by the

Authority from time to time, or who inhabits a

property leased by the Authority, to produce his

income tax returns and, or assessments for the

purpose of establishing his net income or

earnings.".

11. Sub-article (1) of article 13 of the principal Act shall be

substituted by the following new sub-article

"(1) The Authority shall cause to be prepared in every

financial year, and shall not later than twelve (12) weeks after the

end of each financial year, adopt estimates of the income and

expenditure of the Authority for the subsequent financial year.".

Immediately after article 26 of the principal Act there shall be Addition of new

articles to the

added the following new articles

principal Act.

" Power of the

(1) The Minister may, after consultation with

Minister to make

the Authority, make regulations

regulations.

(a) in respect of any of the functions of

the Authority and in connection with the matter

relating to its proper function;

(b) to establish fees for the provision of

any service or any management of a service by

the Authority or by any person on its behalf or

under its authority, including without prejudice to

the generality of the foregoing, any fees or other

charges for any service in connection with the

regulation of any activity by the Authority;

(c) for the making of any deposit or the

giving of any guarantee to ensure the performance

of any obligation by any person imposed as a

condition of any permit, authorisation or licence

under this Act;

(d) for the powers and duties of officers,

employees and, or of contractors appointed by the

Authority;

(e) to regulate, control and prohibit the

presence of any person in any place or building of

which the Authority has a right over, or the

ownership of, or the use by any person of such

place or building;

(f) to regulate, declare and define the

properties over which the Authority has a valid

title of ownership or property over which it has

any other legally valid right;

(g) to regulate the use of the property of

the Authority or property over which it has a

right, whether movable or immovable;

(h) to prescribe what type of information

held by the Authority shall be accessible to the

public, as well as to establish the procedure

concerning access thereto and the relative fees to

be paid to obtain copies of such information;

(i) to exclude the Authority from any

liability, other than liability for gross negligence,

incurred in connection with the execution of its

duties under the said regulations;

(j) to provide and prescribe Schedules to

this Act;

(k) to provide for the amendment, the

substitution or the addition or the alteration of

anything contained in the Schedules to this Act;

(l) to prescribe anything that may or is to

be prescribed under this Act or which relates to

any function or duty of the Authority assigned to

it by or under this Act, or by or under any other

law.

(2) Any power conferred by this Act to make

regulations or Schedules includes the power to, from

time to time, revoke, substitute, amend, alter or add to

any regulations or Schedules as aforesaid.

(3) Regulations or orders made in accordance with

t hi s a rti cl e ma y, f or t h e p u rp os e of t h e p ro p er

implementation and enforcement thereof, provide for

the granting of the power to the Authority to enter and

search any premises, to have access to any relevant

document in any form, to request any person to provide

any relevant information, to carry an on-site inspection,

to issue an order to any person to cease from doing

anything which constitutes an infringement of this Act

or of any regulation or order made thereunder and to

demand from any person an undertaking to desist from

doing any such thing and to publish such undertaking

and any decision of the Authority related to the said

regulations.

(4) The Minister may also make regulations

providing for the discipline of the employees of the

Authority or of the contractor, whether regular or

casual, and the procedures to be followed for such

purpose, including the appointment of a disciplinary

board and the conduct and procedure thereof, and

providing for disciplinary actions that may be taken by

the said Board.

(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of any

other law, for the purposes of carrying out their

functions under this Act, the Board and such officer,

employee or committee or any other person as may be

authorised by the Board or the Chairman for this

purpose, and if so required by the Board with the

assistance of the Executive Police, shall have

(a) the right to enter any premises, public

or private, at all reasonable times, and in the case

of a residential accommodation after giving

reasonable notice of at least twenty-four (24)

hours and not before seven o’clock in the morning

(7:00am) or later than seven o’clock in the

evening (7:00pm), to inspect or survey any land,

or to take any photographs after entering or

request any legitimate information from any such

occupier of such premises or to carry out any

other urgent structural repairs or any maintenance

or urgent works on the property in accordance

with the provisions of article 4(1)(e) and (3)(a) of

the Act

Provided that in the case that the

occupant of the property has not, for any reason

whatsoever, received the notice contemplated in

this article, the Authority shall attempt to notify

the closest family members of the occupant if

these are known to the Authority, or in the case

that the Authority is informed that the occupant is

a resident of an institution it shall also attempt to

serve the notice to the occupant or those charged

with his care in this institution, as the case may

be

Provided further that in the case where

the urgent maintenance or works contemplated in

the preceding sub-article were caused solely by

the negligence and, or default from the

obligations of the tenant of the property in

question, the Authority shall have the right to

recover the expenses related to these works by

means of the procedures contemplated in article

30; and

(b) the right to do anything that is

ancillary or consequential thereto.

(2) Any person authorised pursuant to sub-article

(1) shall produce a means of identification issued by the

Authority before entering the premises concerned.

(1) All expenses reasonably incurred by the

Authority in the exercise of its powers, or any other

amount which might be due to the Authority under any

provision of this Act or regulations made thereunder or

under any other law or agreement signed or otherwise

made by it shall be recoverable as a civil debt by the

Authority from the present owner of the land, or from

any occupier of the land or premises, or from any

person responsible for the acts mentioned in the notice,

including a notice of payment, or an applicant, subject

to such right of recovery such person may have against

any other person. The Authority shall not be liable for

any damages as a result of the exercise of its powers

under this article, unless it is proved that such damage

resulted from gross negligence on the part of the

Authority, its officers and agents. The Authority, in its

discretion, may dispose of the objects found on the land

or premises, without any other formalities whatsoever if

the objects remain unclaimed within seven (7) days.

(2) Where the Authority desires to sue for the

recovery of a debt due to it under any law which it is

entitled to enforce, the Chief Executive Officer or an

officer of the Authority duly authorised by him to act

on his behalf, may make a declaration on oath before

the Court Registrar or before any other officer

authorised to administer the oath in judicial matters,

wherein he states the nature of the debt and the details

of the debtor and confirms that it is due. Interest at the

rate of eight per cent (8%) shall run from the date on

which the amount mentioned in the declaration was

due.

(3) The declaration referred to in sub-article (2)

shall be served upon the debtor by means of a judicial

act and it shall have the same effect as a res judicata of

the competent court unless the debtor, within a period

of thirty (30) days from service upon him of the said

declaration, opposes the claim by filing an application

requesting that the Administrative Review Tribunal

declares the claim unfounded. The said judicial act shall

on pain of nullity contain an intimation to the debtor

that if he does not reply within thirty (30) days from

service upon him, the said judicial act shall have the

same effect as a res judicata of a competent court.

Furthermore, the intimation shall also inform the debtor

that he may file an application in the time limit

provided to him, which application may be signed and

filed in the Administrative Review Tribunal by the

debtor himself without the signature of an advocate or

of a legal procurator being required. The said judicial

act shall constitute an executive title.

(4) The application filed in terms of sub-article (3)

shall be served upon the Authority, which shall be

entitled to file a reply within a period of twenty (20)

days. The Administrative Review Tribunal shall

appoint the application for hearing on a date after the

lapse of that period and in any case not later than one

(1) month from the filing of the application.

(5) Without prejudice to any other remedy

provided by the Act or under any other law, the

Chairman or any other official authorised by him to

represent the Authority and act on his behalf, may

register the debts due to the Authority as hypothecs,

privileges or may register any other guarantee

according to law with the Land Registry, the Public

Registry or with any other entity tasked with such

registrations.

(1) Notwithstanding any other law that may

apply in this case, where the Authority believes that a

person has committed a breach of the provisions of this

Act, the Authority may give notice in writing

specifying the breach that the person has committed and

indicate the steps to be taken to remedy the breach of

the provisions of this Act and the administrative penalty

which he is required to pay in respect of such breach

Provided that any person who feels aggrieved

by a decision of the Authority under this sub-article,

may appeal to the Administrative Review Tribunal for a

revocation or modification of such administrative

penalty.

(2) Where a notice in accordance with this article

has been given, the person mentioned in the notice may,

within twenty-one (21) days of the service of the notice,

accept responsibility for the breach of the provisions of

this Act specified in the notice and within the same

period or such further period as the Authority may

allow, remedy said breach and pay, or undertake in

writing to pay, the administrative penalty indicated in

the notice or such other administrative penalty as the

Authority may accept in lieu, and in any such case

(a) the person mentioned in the notice

shall be deemed to have committed the breach of

the provisions of this Act and to have admitted his

guilt in respect thereof, as stipulated in sub-article

(1);

(b) if the breach of the provisions of this

Act is remedied and the administrative penalty is

paid within the stipulated period or a further

period, as aforesaid, no further proceedings may

be taken against the said person in respect of the

same facts

Provided that the agreement to pay the

administrative penalty shall not extinguish any

civil liability to make good any damages to any

third party or entity;

(c) if the penalty is not paid within the

stipulated period, or a further period, as aforesaid,

it shall become an amount due to the Authority as

a civil debt and proceedings may be taken

accordingly by the Authority to recover the same.

(3) Where the person to whom notice is given

under sub-article (1) does not accept responsibility or,

having accepted such responsibility, fails to remedy the

breach of the provisions of this Act within the period

aforesaid, civil proceedings may be taken against him

in accordance with the provisions of law applicable to

the said breach.

(1) Without prejudice to any other offence

emanating from the Laws of Malta which is directly or

indirectly connected with any of the following acts and

omissions, any person who

(a) hinders,

obstructs,

molests

or

interferes with, or attempts to hinder, obstruct,

molest or interfere with, any officer or employee

of the Authority, or any police officer, or any

public officer in the execution of his duties under

the law, or fails to comply with any reasonable

requirement demanded of him by any of the

persons as aforesaid or otherwise fails to assist

him in the carrying out of the said duties, or

knowingly furnishes such person with false

information or neglects or refuses to give any

information for the purpose aforesaid; or

(b) makes a declaration, for any one of

the purposes of the Act, which is false, misleading

or incorrect in any material respect,

shall be guilty of an offence against the Act and shall

be liable, on conviction, to a fine (multa) not

exceeding ten thousand euro (€10,000).

(2) The Court, besides awarding the punishment

referred to in sub-article (1), shall order the offender to

remove the causes of the offence and to undo anything

which was done without permission or to comply with

the conditions imposed in the agreement entered

between the Authority and the offender, as the case may

be, within a time sufficient for that purpose, but in no

case exceeding three (3) months from the date of the

judgment, and if the offender is a beneficiary of any

scheme issued by the Authority, the Court shall also

order the refund of any benefit granted to said offender

and, or the termination ipso jure of the lease agreement

of the residential accommodation allocated to him, as

the case may be.

(3) Proceedings against any person for any offence

as is mentioned in sub-article (1) shall be taken before

the Court of Magistrates (Malta) or the Court of

Magistrates (Gozo), as the case may be, as courts of

criminal judicature in accordance with the provisions of

the Criminal Code

Provided that notwithstanding the provisions

of article 376(1)(b) of the Criminal Code, the Court

shall, at the request of the prosecution or of the accused,

take down evidence given by the witnesses in the

manner provided for in article 390(6) of the Criminal

Code or in any law in force at that time.

(1) Nothing in this Act shall prejudice the

applicability of the General Data Protection Regulation

(Regulation (EU) 2016/679) (‘GDPR’)and the Data

Protection Act and the fundamental rights and freedoms

of the data subject.

(2) Where the Authority in its capacity of data

controller processes personal data on the applicant or

the beneficiary and, or their dependants, as established

under this Act, it shall

(a) comply with the principles relating to

processing of personal data pursuant to Article 5

of the General Data Protection Regulation

(Regulation (EU) 2016/679) (‘GDPR’);

(b) apply appropriate technical and

organisational measures to ensure a level of

security appropriate to the risk posed, and prevent

abuse or unlawful access to or transfer of,

personal data pertaining to the applicant or the

beneficiary and, or their dependants.

(3) The controller shall retain the personal data of

the applicant, beneficiary and, or their dependants as

long as the granted benefit, subsidy and, or service

remains in force

Provided that where the application for a

benefit, subsidy and, or service is refused, or where this

benefit, subsidy and, or service is revoked and, or

discontinued, such personal data shall be retained for

the purposes of this Act for a period of five (5) years

from the date of the refusal of the application or the

revocation of the decision to discontinue the benefit,

subsidy and, or service thereof.

(4) Where the Authority pursuant to its functions

under this Act processes information in relation to the

verification and analysis of personal data within the

context of an investigation against fraud, the Authority

may restrict the rights and obligations provided for in

Articles 14 to 20 and Article 34 of the General Data

Protection Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679)

(‘GDPR’) in accordance with Article 23 of the General

Data Protection Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679)

(‘GDPR’)

Provided that such personal data shall only be

restricted in case the Authority refuses the application

or revokes and, or discontinues the benefit, subsidy and,

or service thereof

Provided further that the Authority’s Data

Protection Officer designated pursuant to Article 37 of

the General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation

(EU) 2016/679) (‘GDPR’) shall be consulted as

appropriate in a timely manner during the entire process

of the application of the restriction.

(5) The restriction under sub-article (4) shall only

apply in the event that this restriction is considered as

necessary and proportionate measure to protect the

sources and confidentiality of legally privileged

information.

(6) The Authority shall apply the restriction

referred to in sub-article (4) for as long as the reasons

justifying them remain applicable following a necessity

and proportionality test

Provided that such reasons justifying the

restrictions shall be documented and made available to

the Information and Data Protection Commissioner

when and as required.

(7) Where the reasons for a restriction no longer

apply, the Authority shall lift the restriction and inform

the data subject concerned accordingly and comply

with the rights and obligations provided for in Articles

14 to 20 and Article 34 of the General Data Protection

Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679) (‘GDPR’).

(8) The Authority shall review the application for

the restrictions referred to in this Act every year and

depending on the outcome of such review, inform the

data subject accordingly.

(9) For the safeguard of the rights and freedoms of

the data subjects, the following conditions and

safeguards shall apply to documents, reports and other

personal data processed which are subject to the

restriction in terms of sub-article (4)

(a) access to verification and analysis

data by competent authorities other than the

Authority shall not be permitted unless provided

for by law;

(b) the Authority shall maintain an audit

trail record of access to verification and analysis

data by the competent authorities, containing at

least the date of the access, the identifiable details

of the Authority’s officer accessing the data, the

competent authority making the request and the

purpose for the access. Such audit trail record

shall be kept for as long as the verification and

analysis data is stored in conformity with this

Act;

(c) the Authority’s Data Protection

Officer shall keep a register to record the

restrictions applied in relation to the requests

made by the applicants, beneficiaries and, or their

dependants. The register shall include the details

of the data subjects, the right requested to be

exercised that was restricted and the purpose for

such restriction. Restriction of rights in terms of

Article 34 of the General Data Protection

Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679) (‘GDPR’)

shall also be recorded in the register; and

(d) the applicants, beneficiaries and, or

their dependants, in their capacity as data subjects

shall be informed of the application of restrictions

to their rights by informing the data subject

concerned in reply to the request to exercise any

of the rights which are being restricted in terms of

this Act and the publication of the information,

unless this may be prejudicial to the purpose of

the restriction

Provided that the Agency shall justify

the prejudice claimed by it to the Information and

Data Protection Commissioner when and where

requested.".

13. In Schedule 3 to the Public Procurement Regulations, Consequential

immediately after the words "Infrastructure Malta" there shall be amendment.

added the words "Housing Authority".

Passed by the House of Representatives at Sitting No. 104 of the

20th March, 2023.

ANĠLU FARRUGIA

Speaker

RAYMOND SCICLUNA

Clerk of the House of Representatives

€1.98