MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT PENSIONS ACT

MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT PENSIONS

CHAPTER 280

MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT PENSIONS ACT

To make provision for the payment of a pension to Members of

14th August, 1979

ACT XXVI of 1979, as amended by Acts XIII of 1981 , VII of 1989 ,

XXIV of 1995 , V of 1996 and XV of 2002 ; Legal Notice 218 of 2012 ;

and Act XLI of 2016 .

The short title of this Act is the Members of Parliament

Pensions Act.

(1)

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires -

"current pensionable emoluments" has the same meaning as

"pensionable emoluments" with the substitution of references to

honoraria or salaries currently payable on a relevant date for the

references to honoraria or salaries payable on the date of

retirement;

"House" means the House of Representatives established by

article 51 of the Constitution;

"member" means any person who, on or after 1st January, 1976,

was or becomes a member of the House;

"Minister" means the Minister from time to time responsible for

the Department of Social Security, and includes any officer

designated by the Minister for a particular purpose or class of

"pensionable emoluments" means -

(a) in respect of service by a member to whom paragraph

(b) of this definition does not apply, the honorarium

payable to a member on the date of his retirement;

(b) in respect of service by a member who has also held

the office of Speaker, or of Prime Minister, or of

Minister, or of Parliamentary Secretary, or of Deputy

Speaker or of Leader of the Opposition under any of

the instruments specified in subarticle (2), for a period

of not less than five years, or who has held any two or

more of those offices for a period of not less than five

years in the aggregate, or for a period of less than five

years, being the whole period between the first sitting

of the House or of the Legislative Assembly after any

dissolution, up to the date when the House or the

Legislative Assembly, as the case may be, is again

dissolved after that sitting (hereinafter referred to as

"the period of a Legislature"), has held any such office

or any two or more of those offices, the salary payable

in respect of that office, or the average of the salaries

payable in respect of the said offices which carry the

MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT PENSIONS

higher emoluments calculated on the length of service

in each such office during the five years more

favourable to the member, or during that period of a

Legislature, as the case may be, being the most

favourable to the member, on the date of his

retirement

Provided that where a member who has not held any such

office or any such offices for a whole period of a Legislature, but

has held any such office for a period of less than five years, or has

held any two or more of such offices for a period of less than five

years in the aggregate, the average of the salary payable in respect

of such office and of the honorarium payable to a member, for a

period of five years in the aggregate, or the average of the salaries

payable in respect of the said offices and of the honorarium payable

to a member, for a period of five years in the aggregate, shall be

calculated in the manner aforesaid during the five years more

favourable to the member on the date of his retirement;

"retirement" -

(a) in respect of a member over the age of sixty-one years

who is still a member, means -

(i) the implementation of the decision by such

member to cease to be a member or not to seek

re-election as a member, and includes the failure

to be re-elected if he has sought re-election, or

(ii) the attainment of the age of sixty-five years,

whichever is the earlier;

(b) in respect of a member who ceases to be a member

before attaining the age of sixty-one years, the

attainment of that age;

"service" in relation to any member, means any service

performed by such member prior to his attaining the age of sixty-

five years as a member of the House and any service as a member

of the Legislative Assembly under any of the instruments aforesaid

(a) in respect of a member who ceases to be a member

upon a dissolution of Parliament and is re-elected a

member at the first general election after that

dissolution, shall also include the period between the

said dissolution and the day on which the House first

sits after that dissolution;

(b) in respect of a member who has occupied the office of

Speaker, or of Minister, or of Parliamentary Secretary,

shall also include, for the purpose of service as

member or of service in any of the said offices, any

service in that office while the Assembly or Parliament

stood dissolved, so however that no period as a

member and in any of the said offices shall be taken

into account more than once;

(c) in respect of a person who on the 5th January, 1981,

MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT PENSIONS

was a member and had attained the age of sixty-five

years shall also include any period during which he

served as a member between his attaining the age of

sixty-five years and the 4th January, 1981;

(d) in respect of a person who on the 4th January, 1981,

was a member over the age of fifty-five years and had

served as member for less than an aggregate of ten

years, shall also include any period commencing on

the 5th January, 1981, or the day on which he attains

the age of sixty-five years, whichever is the latter, and

ending on the day on which he shall have completed an

aggregate of ten years service as a member;

"service pension" has the same meaning as is assigned to it by

article 2 of the Social Security Act;

"widow" and "actual widow" shall have the same meaning

assigned to them in article 2 of the Social Security Act;

"year", except for the purposes of establishing the age of a

person, means a period of three hundred and sixty-five days, and

includes two or more periods amounting in the aggregate to three

hundred and sixty-five days.

(2) The instruments referred to in subarticle (1) are the Malta

(Constitution) Letters Patent, 1947, the Malta (Constitution) Order-

in-Council, 1961 and the Malta Independence Order, 1964.

All moneys required to meet any expenditure under this

Act shall be a charge on the Consolidated Fund.

(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, a member who

has had a term of service in at least two legislatures not being in the

aggregate less than sixty five months, shall, on his retirement,

receive a pension at the rate of one two hundred and seventieth of

his pensionable emoluments for each completed month of service

up to the limit established by subarticle (4).

(2) Where on the last day of any month on which a pension is

due to be paid to a person under this Act, the pension so payable

together with any other service pension exceed in their aggregate

the amount which would have been payable to such person under

subarticle (1) if the pension had been calculated on the current

pensionable emoluments applicable in his case, such person shall

receive only such part of the pension otherwise payable under this

Act as shall ensure that the said pensions together do not exceed the

amount aforesaid

Provided that where all the pensions aforesaid are together less

than the said amount, the pension otherwise payable under this Act

shall be increased by such sum as shall ensure that the said

pensions together make up that amount.

(3) In any case in which subarticle (2) applies, the provisions

of the Social Security Act, in so far as they refer to pensions under

that Act, shall apply.

(4)

Subject to the provisions of subarticle (2), a pension

MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT PENSIONS

payable to a person under this Act shall not exceed two-thirds of

his pensionable emoluments.

(5) For the purpose of calculating a completed month of

service, month means calendar month

Provided that where a member’s service is made up of an

aggregate of interrupted periods of service the number of days in

each of such periods in excess of completed calendar months shall

be added together and any aggregate of thirty days resulting from

such addition shall constitute an additional completed month.

(6)

(a) The Minister may give his approval for the award of a

pension to a member, who is under the age of sixty one

years and who would have satisfied the entitlement

conditions for the award of a pension under this Act

had he reached the age of sixty one years, if,

immediatley prior to his retirement, the Minister is

satisfied that such member is precluded from

undertaking any gainful occupation owing to some

specific mental or physical infirmity.

(b) For the purposes of awarding a pension in terms of this

subarticle, the Minister shall, before giving his

approval, unless the claim for pension fails on other

statutory conditions, consult on the medical aspects of

the claim with a medical board appointed for the

purpose by the Director General responsible for health

and the member may for such purpose be requested to

submit to such medical examination or tests as the said

board may reasonably require and the Minister shall act

on the recommmedations of the said board.

(c) For the purpose of this subarticle, the Director General

responsible for health shall act in accordance with his

individual professional judgement and shall not be

subject to any direction or control from any other

person or authority.

Omitted under Act IX of 1980.

(1) A person appointed to the office of President of Malta

shall, on retiring from office, be entitled to a pension at the rate of

one ninetieth of the salary payable to him on the date of his

retirement for each completed month of service as President.

(2) The provisions of article 4(2) to (5) shall apply in respect of

the pension payable under subarticles (1) and (4) subject to the

following modifications

(a) any reference therein to pensionable emoluments shall

be construed as a reference to the salary payable to the

President on the date of his retirement;

(b) current pensionable emoluments shall be construed as

the salary currently payable to the President of Malta.

(3) In the case of the person appointed as President of Malta in

virtue of article 49(4) of the Constitution as in force on the 13th

MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT PENSIONS

December, 1974, service as President of Malta shall for the

purposes of subarticle (1) include also service as Governor

General.

(4) The widow or widower of a person appointed to the office

of President shall on the death of the person so appointed, be

entitled to a pension, to be called a widow’s pension, equivalent to

five sixths of the pension payable in accordance with the previous

provisions of this section to his or her spouse if he had been alive,

and if the person appointed dies during his term of office to five

sixths of the pension to which he would have been entitled had he

retired on the date of his or her death

Provided that where there are one or more widows who had

been married to a person appointed as President of Malta at any time

during his tenure of office, such widow’s pension shall be apportioned

in the manner provided in article 42A of the Social Security Act

Provided further that a person entitled to a pension under

this sub-article who is also entitled to a pension under any other

provisions of this Act shall only be entitled to receive the higher of

such pensions.

(1) A contribution, at the rate specified in subarticle (2)

shall, from and after the commencement of this Act, be payable by

every member under the age of sixty-five years while he is a

member, and such contribution shall be deducted from the

honorarium or salary of every such member.

(2) The rate of contribution shall be one-twelfth of the

honorarium or salary of the contributing member.

(3) Where the amount of contribution payable by a member

under the Social Security Act, is equal to or greater than the amount

of contribution payable by him under this Act, calculated on a

weekly basis, the payment of contribution made in accordance with

the provisions of the Social Security Act, shall, for the purposes of

this section, be deemed to be a payment made under this Act.

(4) Where the amount of contribution payable by a member

under the Social Security Act is less than the amount of

contribution payable by him under this Act, calculated on a weekly

basis, the amount of contribution payable under this Act shall be

abated by the amount of contribution payable under the Social

Security Act.

(5) A contribution paid under this Act shall, for the purposes of

article 53(1)(d) of the Income Tax Act, be deemed to be an annual

contribution to a pension approved by the Commissioner of Inland

Revenue.

(6)

No contribution paid under this Act shall be refundable.

(7) Notwithstanding the provisions of subarticle (1) a

contribution under this section shall be payable by a member to

whom the provisions of paragraph (d) of the definition of "service"

in article 2(1) apply in respect of any period taken into

consideration under that paragraph for the purpose of calculating

the term of service, during which he is over the age of sixty-five

MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT PENSIONS

years.

(1) Where a former member below the age of sixty-five

years who is in receipt of a pension under this Act again becomes a

member, no pension shall be payable while he continues to be a

member and until he attains the age of sixty-five years

Provided that where the honorarium or salary currently

payable to such member is less than the amount of pension to which

he would have been entitled under this Act had he not again

become a member, he shall be entitled to receive by way of pension

under this Act the difference between such honorarium or salary

and such pension until he subsequently ceases to be a member or

attains the age of sixty-five years, whichever is the earlier, and

thenceforth his pension shall be such as he may be entitled to in

accordance with the provisions of this Act.

(2) No pension shall be payable to a person under this Act who

has ceased to be a member by reason of the dissolution of

Parliament until the publication of the official result of the next

ensuing general election or, if he has not sought re-election, until

the closing day for nominations for that election.

(3) No pension shall be payable under this Act to a person who

is disqualified from membership of the House by or under any law

for the time being in force by reason of his having been convicted

o f a n o ff e n c e c o n n e c t e d w i t h t h e e l e c t i o n o f m e m b e r s o f

Parliament.

(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, a widow or

widower of a member who was at the time of his death entitled to a

pension under this Act, shall be entitled to receive a pension

Provided that where there are one or more widows who had

been married to a member at any time during his tenure of office, such

widow’s pension shall be apportioned in the manner provided in

article 42A of the Social Security Act

Provided further that a person entitled to a pension under

this article who is also entitled to a pension under any other

provision of this Act shall only be entitled to receive the higher of

such pensions.

(2) The provisions of subarticle (1) shall also apply to a widow

or widower of a member who

(a) has not yet attained the age of sixty one years at the

time of his death but who, before such death, satisfied

the requirements of subsection (1) of section 4 of this

Act; or

(b) but for the fact that he continued to be a member after

attaining the age of sixty one years, would have been

entitled to a pension under this Act.

(3) The rate of pension payable under this section shall be

equivalent to five-sixths of the pension to which the member was,

or, but for the fact that he did not cease to be a member before his

death, would have been, entitled in accordance with article 4(1);

MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT PENSIONS

and for the purposes of this subarticle, the reference to the

pensionable emoluments in article 4(1) shall be construed as a

reference to the current pensionable emoluments that would have

been applicable to the member but for his death.

(4) The rate of pension payable under this section shall be

abated by the amount of any pension payable to her by an employer

of her late husband which is related to the employment of her late

husband.

(5) No pension shall be payable to a widow under the age of

sixty-five years during any time in which she is in receipt of

earnings from a gainful occupation exceeding the amount specified

under article 32 of the Social Security Act in respect of any period

of four weeks.

(1) No pension payable under this Act shall be assignable,

transferable or liable to be attached, sequestered or levied upon for

or in respect of any debt or claim whatsoever, except in so far as is

provided in article 381(3) of the Code of Organization and Civil

Procedure.

(2) If a person who is in receipt of a pension under this Act is

declared a bankrupt, such pension shall not be deemed to form part

of the property or estate of that person for the purposes of any of

the provisions of Part III of the Commercial Code.

The Minister shall

be

charged

with

the

general

administration of this Act.

Any person who, on the commencement of this Act, is in

receipt of an allowance or other payment under the Members of

Parliament (Retiring Allowances) Act, 1966 * shall continue to be

entitled to receive such allowance or other payment until such time

as he would have ceased to be so entitled under that Act

Provided that any such person shall also cease to be entitled

to any allowance or other payment under that Act if he is entitled to

receive a pension under this Act and he opts to receive such

pension.

*Repealed by subsection (1) of section 10 of the Act as originally enacted, which

subsection is being omitted under the Statute Law Revision Act, 1980.