INQUIRIES ACT (preamble—inquiriesact)

INQUIRIES

CHAPTER 273

INQUIRIES ACT

To regulate certain inquiries and to make other provisions in respect

thereof.

(3rd June, 1977) *

ACT XIX of 1977, as amended by Acts XIII of 1983 and V of 1989 ;

and Legal Notice 423 of 2007 .

The short title of this Act is the Inquiries Act.

[ ARTICLES 5 AND 6]

A. Form of oath to be taken by chairman, deputy chairman or

member of Board

I ............................................................... having been

appointed to be Chairman/Deputy Chairman/Member of

........................................... do swear/solemnly affirm that I will

faithfully, fully, impartially and to the best of my ability discharge

the trust and perform the duties devolving upon me by virtue of the

said appointment.

So help me God.

B. Summons to Witnesses

(The Inquiries Act)

To A.B. (name of person summoned and residence)

You are hereby summoned to appear before................................

.............................................. at ............. (place) on ...............

(date and time) and to give evidence respecting ..............................

. ....................................... (the matter of the inquiry).

Given under my hand this ........... day of ............ 20...

(Signature of Chairman, Deputy Chairman

or other member)

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires -

"Board" includes any commission, committee or other body of

persons and includes also a single person functioning as a Board or

similar authority;

"inquiry" includes any investigation or other examination of the

facts or circumstances of a case;

"public officer" has the same meaning as is assigned to it by

article 124 of the Constitution of Malta;

"statutory body" means any corporation or other body corporate

established by law or any partnership or other body in which the

Government or such body as aforesaid has a controlling interest, or

over which it has effective control.

This Act shall apply to any Board appointed or authorised

by or under any law, including this Act, to carry out any inquiry or

inquiries into any of the following matters

(a) the conduct of public officers, or of officers or

servants of a statutory body, or of anyone or more of

such public officers or officers or servants;

(b) the conduct or management of any department of

Government or of any statutory body;

(c) any matter falling within the functions or

responsibility of any such department or body, or

otherwise concerning or affecting a service of the

Government,

and in particular, but without prejudice to the generality of the

aforesaid, this Act shall apply to any Board or other authority,

exercising powers of discipline with respect to public officers in

accordance with article 110 and article 121 of the Constitution of

Malta and any regulations made thereunder.

(1) A Board may be appointed under this Act either by the

Prime Minister for any of the purposes mentioned in article 3, or by

a Minister for any of the purposes mentioned in article 3(b) and (c)

in so far as the matter of the inquiry concerns or affects a

*See Government Notice No. 293 of 3rd June, 1977.

INQUIRIES

department or statutory body or service for which he is responsible

or in respect of which he has powers under any enactment.

(2) Where a Board consists of three persons or more, this shall

be composed of a chairman together with such number of other

members in an even number as the person appointing the Board

may deem fit; and where the total number of the members

composing the Board is more than three, one of the members of the

Board other than the chairman shall be appointed by the person

appointing the Board as deputy chairman and shall preside at the

meetings of the Board in the absence of the chairman.

(3) The quorum of the Board shall consist of the chairman, or

in the absence of the chairman the deputy chairman, together with

such other members being not less than half the number of the

members other than the chairman, composing the Board.

(4) Subject to the provisions of this Act, any Board appointed

under this Act shall carry out such functions and other duties, and

in such manner and within such time, as may be specified in the

instrument appointing it.

(1) Every person appointed to be, or to serve as chairman

or deputy chairman as the case may be, or member of any Board to

which this Act applies shall, before entering upon those duties, take

and subscribe an oath in the form set out in the Schedule to this Act

or in such other form as may be appropriate to the case.

(2) Such oath may be taken before any commissioner for oaths

and shall be deposited with the Attorney General.

(1) Every Board to which this Act applies shall have

power, exercisable through its chairman or deputy chairman as the

case may be, or by the person constituting the Board -

(a) to summon witnesses;

(b) to administer an oath to any witness and to any person

concerned in the inquiry, and require them to give

evidence and to produce documents in their possession

or under their custody in such circumstances as they

could be required to give evidence or produce

documents before a court of law.

(2) Summonses for attendance of witnesses may be in the form

set out in the Schedule to this Act or in such other form as may be

appropriate to the case, and shall be signed by the chairman or

secretary of the Board or, as the case may require, by the person

constituting the Board.

(3) A summons may be served either by hand or by post. Where

it is served by hand it shall be sufficient to prove service by

evidence that the summons was left with a person over the age of

sixteen years at the place of residence or of business of the person

summoned; and if served by post it shall be sufficient to prove

service by evidence that the summons was properly addressed and

posted.

INQUIRIES

(4) Any person summoned as aforesaid who refuses, or without

sufficient cause fails, to attend at the time and place mentioned in

the summons, or refuses, without sufficient cause, to answer or to

answer fully and satisfactorily, to the best of his knowledge and

belief all questions put to him by or with the concurrence of the

Board, or refuses or fails, without sufficient cause, to produce any

document he was required to produce by or with the concurrence of

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

exceeding one thousand and one hundred and sixty-four euro and

sixty-nine cents (1,164.69) or to imprisonment not exceeding three

months, or to both fine and imprisonment

Provided that, without prejudice to the generality of the

provisions of subarticle (1)(b), no person giving evidence before a

Board may be compelled to incriminate himself, and every such

person shall, in respect of any evidence given by him before a

Board, be entitled to the same privileges to which a witness giving

evidence before a court of law is entitled.

(5) No proceedings shall be commenced in respect of any

offence against this article without the concurrence of the Attorney

General.

Notwithstanding the repeal of the Committees of Inquiry

Act, 1948 * , and without prejudice to the provisions of article 12 of

the Interpretation Act, any power exercised and any oath taken

under the aforesaid Act of 1948, shall continue to have effect as if

it had been a power exercised under, or a power given by, this Act,

as the case may require, or an oath taken under and for the purposes

of this Act.

*Repealed by subarticle (1) of article 7 of this Act as originally enacted, which

subarticle has been omitted under the Statute Law Revision Act , 1980.

INQUIRIES