LITTER ACT (preamble—litteract)

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CHAPTER 206

LITTER ACT

To make provisions for the abatement of litter.

(27th February, 1968) *

ACT VIII of 1968, as amended by Acts: LIII of 1975, III of 1978, XIII of

1983 and XIX of 1984; and Legal Notice 411 of 2007.

The short title of this Act is the Litter Act.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires -

"Malta" has the same meaning as is assigned to it by article 124

of the Constitution of Malta;

"Minister" means the Minister responsible for public health;

"place in the open air" includes any covered place open to the air

on at least one side and available for public use.

No person shall throw down, drop or otherwise deposit in,

into or from any place in the open air to which the public are

entitled or permitted to have access without payment, and leave,

anything whatsoever in such circumstances as to cause, contribute

to, or tend to lead to, the defacement by litter of any place in the

o p e n a i r, u n l e s s s u c h d e p o s i t i n g a n d l e a v i n g w a s l a w f u l l y

authorized.

No person shall deposit and leave in any place in the open

air any dustbin, used box, bottle, tin, carton or other container, or

any paper, straw or other material used for packing, for the purpose

of its collection unless such depositing is made at a time reasonably

approximate to, and before, the time at which refuse collection

ordinarily occurs in such place.

It shall not be lawful for any person to sort any refuse

deposited for collection at any place or while being transported

after collection.

No person shall unlawfully remove or otherwise interfere

with any receptacle for litter provided by the Government in any

street or other public place or any dustbin deposited for collection

at any place.

(1) There shall be a Public Cleansing Advisory Committee

(hereinafter referred to as "the Committee"), which shall be

composed of the Superintendent of Public Health, or his

representative, as chairman, and of the representative of the

Minister of tourism, the Commissioner of Police or his

r e p r e s e n t a t i v e a n d t h e D i r e c t o r o f P u b l i c Wo r k s o r h i s

representative, as members. The Minister may also appoint to sit on

the Committee, under such terms and conditions as he may

determine, such other persons as shall appear to him to be fit.

*See Government Notice No. 161 of the 27th of February, 1968.

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(2) It shall be the duty of the Committee to advise the Minister

on any matter relating to public cleansing and on any other matter

which may come within the scope of this Act.

(1) The Minister may by order prohibit the depositing of

any refuse in any place for collection unless in one or more covered

dustbins of such material, size and construction as approved by the

Superintendent of Public Health.

(2) Any such order may refer to the whole of Malta or to any

one or more localities thereof, and it may be limited to certain

categories of premises only.

(3) Any order made under this article may be followed by

another amending, deleting or substituting any previous order.

(4) Any such order shall come into effect after the expiry of

one month from its publication or at such later date as the Minister

may establish.

(1) If any person contravenes any of the provisions of this

Act, other than article 4, or contravenes any order made under

article 8 hereof, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable,

on conviction, to a fine (multa) of not less than twenty-three euro

and twenty-nine cents (23.29).

(1A) If in an offence to which subarticle (1) applies an offender

dumps refuse, swill or litter of such size or in such quantity or

accumulation as, taken by itself, is sufficient to lead to defacement

of any place in the open air, he shall be liable, on conviction, to a

fine (multa) of not less than one thousand and one hundred and

sixty-four euro and sixty-nine cents (1,164.69) but not exceeding

two thousand and three hundred and twenty-nine euro and thirty-

seven cents (2,329.37).

(2) If any person contravenes the provisions of article 4 of this

Act, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable, on

conviction, to a fine (multa) of not less than eleven euro and sixty-

five cents (11.65).

(3) If any vehicle has been used in the commission of an

offence against the provisions of article 3 of this Act, the court

shall, at the demand of the prosecution and in addition to the

punishment prescribed under subarticles (1) and (1A), order the

sequestration of such vehicle for a term of not less than two months

but not exceeding one year and the suspension for an equal term of

any driving licence held by the offender, during which period the

vehicle shall be at the risk of the owner

Provided that where any person who has not participated in

the offence, has a claim to such vehicle the sequestration shall only

be ordered if the court is satisfied that no such claim is thereby

prejudiced.

(3A) If the offender is not the owner of the vehicle mentioned in

subarticle (3) but has acted under the instructions of such owner or

where such owner had the power to prevent the commission of the

offence does not do so, the owner shall be liable, on conviction, to

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the punishment laid down in subarticles (1), (1A) and (3).

(3B) If the circumstances, in which any unlawfully dumped

material is found, indicate the owner or other person responsible

for such material immediately prior to its dumping, such owner or

person shall be deemed to have deposited that material and shall be

liable to the punishment laid down in subarticles (1), (1A) and (3),

unless he proves that he did not know of the commission of the

offence, or although he knew of it did not have the power to

prevent it.

(4) When any person has been found guilty of an offence

against the provisions of article 6 of this Act, the court may, by the

same judgment, and on proof of the damage suffered, order the

offender to pay to the owner of the receptacle or dustbin in

question, by way of damages, a sum not exceeding twenty-three

euro and twenty-nine cents (23.29), and any such order shall be of

the same force and effect and be executed in the same manner as if

it had been given in a civil action duly instituted between such

owner and the offender.

(1) Notwithstanding any other law providing for the trial

and punishment of offences, where any person commits an offence

against any of the provisions of this Act or of any order made

thereunder, the following provisions of this article shall apply.

(2) Any Police officer and any Health Inspector in whose

opinion any such offence has been committed may hand over to the

offender a notice containing a general description of the offence.

(3) Where any notice has been handed over as is provided in

subarticle (2), the person referred to in the said notice may pay at

the Department of Health in Valletta or at Victoria, Gozo, within

seven days, a fine of eleven euro and sixty-five cents (11.65) in

respect of each offence referred to in each such notice.

(4) Where any fine imposed under subarticle (3) is not paid

within the aforementioned period, ordinary proceedings in respect

of the offence may be taken in accordance with the provisions of

this Act and of the Criminal Code.

(5) The payment of any such fine shall, for all intents and

purposes of law, be deemed to be an admission of the commission

of the offence.

The Minister may make regulations for the better

enforcement of the provisions of this Act, and without prejudice to

the generality of this provision, may

(a) prescribe areas where dumping of refuse or waste may

lawfully be carried out;

(b) prescribe conditions or manner subject to which any

aforesaid activities may be lawfully carried out;

(c) prescribe the manner in which locally produced swill

may be collected and disposed;

(d) provide for any matter incidental or supplementary to

any of the foregoing provisions;

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(e) prescribe the penalties for any contravention against

any regulations made under the provisions of this

article, which penalties shall, unless a higher

punishment is provided therefor in this Act, not exceed

a fine (multa) of two hundred and thirty-two euro and

ninety-four cents (232.94) for each offence.

Where the offence relates to dumping, the court shall in

addition to any penalty which may be imposed in accordance with

this Act, also order the offender to remove from the place where the

offence has taken place all the material, in respect of which he is

found guilty, within a time sufficient for the purpose, to be fixed by

the court, and that in default of compliance with that order such

material be removed by the Police at the expense of the offender, in

which case he may be made to refund the expense as a civil debt.