GENDER IDENTITY, GENDER EXPRESSION AND SEX CHARACTERISTICS ACT

CHAPTER 540

GENDER IDENTITY, GENDER EXPRESSION AND

SEX CHARACTERISTICS ACT

To provide for the recognition and registration of the gender of a person and

to regulate the effects of such a change, as well as the recognition and

protection of the sex characteristics of a person.

14th April, 2015

ACT XI of 2015 , as amended by Acts XX of 2015 and LVI of

2016 , XIII of 2018 and XXV of 2024.

The short title of this Act is the Gender Identity, Gender

Expression and Sex Characteristics Act.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires

"acts of civil status" refers to acts of birth, acts of marriage, acts of

civil union, cohabitation certificates and acts of death, as the case may

be;

"Chief Executive Officer" shall have the same meaning assigned to

it in the International Protection Act;

"Director" means the Director for Public Registry;

"gender expression" refers to each person’s manifestation of

their gender identity, and, or the one that is perceived by others;

"gender identity" refers to each person’s internal and individual

experience of gender, which may or may not correspond with the

sex assigned at birth, including the personal sense of the body

(which may involve, if freely chosen, modification of bodily

appearance and, or functions by medical, surgical or other means)

and other expressions of gender, including name, dress, speech and

mannerisms;

"gender marker" refers to the identifier which classifies persons

within a particular sex category;

"interdisciplinary team" refers to the team established by article

14;

"lived gender" refers to each person’s gender identity and its

public expression over a sustained period of time;

"Minister" means the Minister responsible for equality;

"minor" means a person who has not as yet attained the age of

sixteen years;

"non-binary gender" refers to all gender identities other than male or

female;

"Notary" means a person holding a warrant to practise as a

Notary Public in Malta in accordance with the Notarial Profession

and Notarial Archives Act; and

"sex characteristics" refers to the chromosomal, gondal and

anatomical features of a person, which include primary characteristics

such as reproductive organs and genitalia and, or in chromosomal

structures and hormones; and secondary characteristics such as muscle

mass, hair distribution, breasts and, or structure.

Persons who have reached the age of sixteen (16) years, but

have not yet reached the age of eighteen (18) years, for all intents

and purposes of this Act, shall be considered as of age

Provided that the rights and interests of children stipulated in

the Convention on the Rights of the Child adopted by the General

Assembly of the United Nations on 20th November 1989 shall

nonetheless apply for persons mentioned in this article.

(1) All persons being citizens of Malta have the right to -

(a) the recognition of their gender identity;

(b) the free development of their person according to their

gender identity;

(c) be treated according to their gender identity and,

particularly, to be identified in that way in the

documents providing their identity therein; and

(d) bodily integrity and physical autonomy.

(2)

Without prejudice to any provision of this Act -

(a) a person’s rights, relationship and obligations arising

out of parenthood or marriage shall in no way be

affected;

(b) the person’s rights arising out of succession, including

but not limited to any testamentary dispositions made

in one’s favour, and any obligations and, or rights

subjected to or acquired prior to the date of change of

gender identity shall in no way be affected; and

(c) any personal or real right already acquired by third

parties or any privilege or hypothecary right of a

creditor acquired before the change in the gender

identity of the person shall in no way be affected.

(3) The gender identity of the individual shall be respected at

all times.

(4) The person shall not be required to provide proof of a

surgical procedure for total or partial genital reassignment,

hormonal therapies or any other psychiatric, psychological or

medical treatment to make use of the right to gender identity.

(1) It shall be the right of every Maltese citizen to request

the Director to change the recorded gender to the female gender, to

the male gender, or to a non-binary gender and, or name, if the

person so chooses to change the name, in order to reflect that

person’s self-determined gender identity

Provided that without prejudice to the dispositions of any

other law, a person may only request to change the name by means

of the procedure in accordance with this Act, if together with that

request that person is also requesting to change the recorded

gender

Provided further that in the case of a non-binary gender, the

gender marker shall in any act or document be marked with the letter

"X".

(2) The request shall be made by means of a note of registration

published in accordance with article 5(3).

(3) The Director shall not require any other evidence other than

the declaratory public deed published in accordance with article 5.

(4) The Director shall within fifteen days from the filing of the

note of enrolment by the Notary at the public registry, enter a note

in the act of birth of the applicant.

(5) The provisions of article 249 of the Civil Code shall mutatis

mutandis apply.

(6)

(a) The person who made a request in accordance with

sub-article (1) shall also be entitled to demand that a

full certificate of the act of birth showing the

particulars resulting from the annotations be issued to

them so however that there shall be indicated on such

certificates the annotations that have been made upon

it by virtue of a decree of a court or in terms of the

procedure established under this Act without the

details of the said annotations being specified.

(b) Every person who has made use of the procedure in

accordance with article 257 of the Civil Code and to

whom a birth certificate has been issued in accordance

with article 257C of the said Code shall be entitled

also to demand the issue of his or her complete birth

certificate which results from these annotations and

there shall be indicated on the same certificate the

annotations that were made by virtue of the court

judgment given in accordance with the provisions of

article 257 of the said Code, without the details of the

specific annotations.

(c) A person whose request to the Court of Revision of

Notarial Acts, for a correction in the name and gender

assigned to them in their act of birth, shall be entitled

to demand that a full certificate of their act of birth

showing the particulars resulting from the annotations

be issued to them so however that there shall be

indicated on such certificate that annotations have

been made upon it by virtue of a decree of a court

without the details of the said annotations being

specified.

(d) Within seven days from receipt of a request made for

the issue of a birth certificate drawn up in accordance

with this article, the Director shall not give any

information contained in the register indicating the

original act of birth except insofar as provided in this

article.

(7) The said information or copy of the original act of birth

may be given

(a) with the consent of the person to whom the certificate

refers; or

(b) when there is no such consent, upon an order of the

Court (Voluntary Jurisdiction Section) or of another

Court taking cognizance of a cause where the necessity

of the presentation of that certificate or information

arises, where the Court is satisfied that the issuing of

the said certificate or information is necessary to

defend or safeguard a right or a legitimate interest of

the person making the demand which, after taking into

consideration all relevant circumstances, the court’s

considerations should prevail over the right to privacy

of the person to whom the certificate refers.

(8) A person who was granted international protection in terms of

the International Protection Act, and in terms of any other subsidiary

legislation issued under the International Protection Act, and who

wants to change the recorded gender and name, if the person chooses

to change the name, shall make a declaration confirmed on oath before

the Chief Executive Officer declaring the person’s self-determined

gender and name. The Chief Executive Officer shall record such

amendment in their asylum application form and protection certificate

within fifteen days.

(1) The Court which would have issued the court decree of

adoption may, on an application of an adopting person in the case

of a minor or an adopted person, amend the decree by changing the

gender of the person and the name if the person chooses to change his

name; and when such decree is so amended, the Court Registrar

shall see that the amendment is communicated to the Director

within fifteen days from the delivery of such decree; and every

correction or addition in the Register of Adopted Persons or the

deletion of the registration marker on the register of acts of birth or

the Register of Adopted Persons that is needed shall be made in that

manner

Provided that before the end of the fifteen days from the

award of the amending decree, the adopted person shall make a

public declaratory act in accordance with article 5 that reflects the

changes ordered in the Court decree.

(2) When the adoption decree is amended every authenticated

copy of the relative registration in the Register of Adopted Persons

that can be issued by virtue of article 269(5) of the Civil Code shall

be a copy of the registration so amended, without the reproduction

of any note or marker of the amendment or something which has

been deleted by virtue of such power; and every authentic copy of

registration in any registry that is a registration the marker of which

has been deleted shall be considered as an exact copy only if the

marker and also the deletion are not shown therein.

(1) The drawing up of the declaratory public deed shall

contain the following elements

(a) a copy of the act of birth of the applicant;

(b) a clear, unequivocal and informed declaration by the

applicant that one’s gender identity does not

correspond to the assigned sex in the act of birth;

(c) a specification of the gender particulars;

(d) the name with which the applicant wants to be registered;

(dd) a declaration of the acts of civil status of the applicant,

other than the act of birth, as well as any other act of civil

status wherein the applicant appears, with the progressive

registration number and year of each one; and

(e) all the prescribed elements required in accordance

with the Notarial Profession and Notarial Archives

Act.

(2) The Notary shall not request any psychiatric, psychological

or medical documents for the drawing up of the declaratory public

(3) Every Notary receiving such an act must deliver to the Director

a note in accordance with article 50 of the Notarial Profession and

Notarial Archives Act.

The date of entry of the note by the Director in accordance with

sub-article (4) of article 4 shall be considered, for all purposes of the

law, as the effective date from when the person is considered to belong

to the gender indicated in the note.

(1) The persons exercising parental authority over the

minor or the tutor of the minor may file an application in the

registry of the Civil Court (Voluntary Jurisdiction Section)

requesting the Court to change the recorded gender and name of the

minor in order to reflect the minor’s gender identity.

(2) When an application under sub-article (1) is made on behalf

of a minor, the Court shall

(a) ensure that the best interests of the child as expressed

in the Convention on the Rights of the Child be the

paramount consideration; and

(b) give due weight to the views of the minor having

regard to the minor’s age and maturity

Provided that in any case, the Court shall ensure that any

process, service or assessment that can be used to

evaluate the requisites of this sub-article shall respect

those rights stipulated under article 3 and the provisions

of the Affirmation of Sexual Orientation, Gender

Identity and Gender Expression Act, so however that

the Court shall also give due consideration to any

process, service or evaluation that the minor had already

gone through, and where possible, not subject the minor

to additional processes.

(3)

If the Court accedes to the request made in accordance with

sub-article (1), the Court shall order the Director to change the

recorded gender and name of the minor in the act of birth of the

minor, by means of an annotation in the margin.

(4) The persons exercising parental authority over the minor or

the tutor of the minor whose gender has not been declared at birth,

may before the minor attains the age of sixteen (16), by filing an

application in the registry of the Civil Court (Voluntary Jurisdiction

Section), declare the gender and the name of the minor, if the minor

chooses to change the name and following the express consent of

the minor, taking into consideration the evolving capacities and the

best interests of the minor, the Civil Court (Voluntary Jurisdiction

Section) shall order the Director to register the gender and the

name of the minor in the act of birth of the minor, by virtue of an

annotation in the margin

Provided that persons of sixteen (16) and seventeen (17)

years, whose gender has not yet been declared, shall before they

attain the age of eighteen (18) years declare their gender by virtue

of the procedure as established under the provisions of article 4

Provided further that a declaration of gender carried out in

terms of the preceding proviso shall not be considered as an

amendment to the act of birth for the purposes of article 8(2).

(1) Accessibility to the full act of birth shall be limited

solely and exclusively to the person who has attained the age of

sixteen (16) years and to whom that act of birth relates or by a court

order.

(2) An amendment to the act of birth made in accordance with

article 7 may be further amended by the minor when he reaches the

age of sixteen (16) years by virtue of the procedure established in

article 4

Provided that without prejudice to the provisions of this sub-

article, an amendment to the act of birth made in accordance with

this Act shall only be amended further by a Court order

Provided further that any person who had made a request in

accordance with article 4(1) before the enactment of the Gender

Identity, Gender Expression and Sex Characteristics (Amendment)

Act, 2024 may, by not later than five (5) years from the coming into

2024. force of the said Act, make a new request to change the recorded

gender to a non-binary gender. In such a case, there shall be made an

express reference to this proviso and the preceding note of registration

in the declaratory public deed in accordance with article 5.

(1)

A final decision about any person’s gender identity

which has been determined by a competent foreign court or

responsible authority acting in accordance with the law of that country

shall be recognised in Malta by virtue of a public deed of recognition

and the provisions of article 5(2) and (3) shall apply mutatis mutandis.

(2)

The public deed of recognition shall contain the following

elements

(a)

a legal copy of the final decision which is to be

recognised, and when it is not in the Maltese or English

language it shall be translated to one (1) of these languages;

(b)

a legal copy of a valid identification document

issued by the country where the decision was determined;

(c)

declaration of the acts of civil status of the

applicant registered in Malta, as well as any other act of civil

status wherein the applicant appears registered in Malta, with the

progressive registration number and year of each one (1); and

(d)

all the prescribed elements required in accordance

with the Notarial Profession and Notarial Archives Act.

(3)

In the case of minors, a request for recognition of a final

decision about the minor’s gender identity which has been determined

by a competent foreign court or responsible authority acting in

accordance with the law of that country, shall be made by means of an

application filed in the registry of the Civil Court (Voluntary

Jurisdiction Section) by the persons exercising parental authority over

the minor or the tutor of the minor and the provisions of article 7 shall

apply mutatis mutandis.

(4)

Gender markers, not recognised by this Act, but recognised

by a competent foreign court or responsible authority acting in

accordance with the law of that country shall be recognised in Malta.

(5) When a person who has made a request in accordance with this

article has acts of civil status registered in Malta, the provisions of

article 10 and the provisions of this Act relating to annotations required

by the Director, shall, as the case may be, apply mutatis mutandis to

this article.

(1) A person of any nationality who is detained in any

gender-segregated facility in Malta may have such person’s gender

recognised by means of an affidavit confirming such lived gender

and the intention of the person to continue living according to such

gender throughout the period of detention

Provided that the relevant authority that receives the affidavit

provided for in this sub-article shall, after consulting with the person

concerned, make those adjustments that do not impose a

disproportionate burden on it, where it is necessary to provide

reasonable accommodation for that person.

(2) The affidavit referred to in sub-article (1) shall be subject to

the procedures set out in the Code of Organization and Civil

Procedure.

(3) The affidavit mentioned in sub-article (1) shall cease to

have effect upon the expiration of the period of detention.

(1) The Director shall, within fifteen (15) days from the

filing of the note of enrolment by the notary in terms of article 5 and

without prejudice to article 9 of the Cohabitation Act, amend the acts

of civil status which would have been declared in accordance with

article 5(1)(dd)

Provided that the person shall be entitled to demand to be

given the complete certificate of the civil status acts resulting from

these annotations and there shall be indicated on the same acts the

annotations made by virtue of this Act, without the details of the

specific annotations.

(2) A person, in respect of whom an amendment to the act of

birth has been made in accordance with the provisions of this Act

shall, within fifteen days from the date specified in article 6,

request the authorised officers in terms of the Identity Card and

other Identity Documents Act to amend the identity card and other

identification documents of the person and to issue a new identity

card and other identification documents indicating the gender and

the name of the person reflecting the amendment made in the act of

birth of the person.

(3) A person may also, on the payment of such fee as may be

prescribed, request any other competent authority, department,

employer, educational or other institution to issue any official document

or certificate relative to them indicating the change in gender and name

of the person.

(1) Whosoever shall knowingly expose any person who

has availed of the provisions of this Act, or shall insult or revile a

person, shall upon conviction be liable to a fine (multa) of not less

than one thousand euro (€1,000) and not exceeding five thousand

euro (€5,000).

(2) Saving the provisions of article 83B of the Criminal Code,

when an offence is motivated by gender expression and sex

characteristics, the punishment shall be that laid down in the said

article.

(3) Whosoever knowingly violates any of the provisions of this

Act, shall upon conviction be liable to a fine (multa) of not less

than five hundred euro (€500) and not exceeding one thousand euro

(€1,000).

A person who in the course of the discharge of official

duties was involved with a matter relating to this Act, shall not

disclose such matter in accordance with the Professional Secrecy

Act and the Data Protection Act

Provided that the copies of the public deed referred to in article

5 published in terms of the Notarial Profession and Notarial Archives

Act shall not be deemed to have been issued in violation of this article.

(1) Every norm, regulation or procedure shall respect the

right to gender identity. No norm or regulation or procedure may

limit, restrict, or annul the exercise of the right to gender identity,

and all norms must always be interpreted and enforced in a manner

that favours access to this right.

(2) The public service has the duty to ensure that unlawful

sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex

characteristics discrimination and harassment are eliminated,

whilst its services must promote equality of opportunity to all,

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

expression and sex characteristics.

(3) The provisions of this Act shall apply to the private sector, all

public sector and public service departments, agencies and all competent

authorities that maintain personal records and, or collect gender

information. Such forms, records and or information shall be assessed

and modified to reflect the new standards established by this Act

within a maximum of one (1) year from the date of entry into force of

the Gender Identity, Gender Expression and Sex Characteristics

2024. (Amendment) Act, 2024.

(1) It shall be unlawful for medical practitioners or other

professionals to conduct any sex assignment treatment and, or

surgical intervention on the sex characteristics of a minor which

treatment and, or intervention can be deferred until the person to be

treated can provide informed consent

Provided that such sex assignment treatment and, or

surgical intervention on the sex characteristics of the minor shall be

conducted if the minor gives informed consent through the person

exercising parental authority or the tutor of the minor.

(2) Medical practitioners or other professionals in breach of this

article sh all, on conviction, be li able to the pu nishm ent o f

imprisonment not exceeding five years, or to a fine (multa) of not less

than five thousand euro (€5,000) and not more than twenty thousand

euro (€20,000).

(3) In exceptional circumstances treatment may be effected

once agreement is reached between the interdisciplinary team and

the persons exercising parental authority or tutor of the minor who

is still unable to provide consent

Provided that medical intervention which is driven by

social factors without the consent of the minor, will be in violation

of this Act.

(4) The interdisciplinary team shall be appointed by the

Minister for a period of three years which period may be renewed

for another period of three years.

(5) The interdisciplinary team shall be composed of those

professionals whom the Minister considers as appropriate.

(6) When the decision for treatment is being expressed by a

minor with the consent of the persons exercising parental authority

or the tutor of the minor, the medical professionals shall

(a) ensure that the best interests of the child as expressed

in the Convention on the Rights of the Child be the

paramount consideration; and

(b) give weight to the views of the minor having regard to the

minor's age and maturity.

(1) All persons seeking psychosocial counselling, support and

medical interventions relating to sex or gender should be given expert

sensitive and individually tailored support by psychologists and medical

practitioners or peer counselling. Such support should extend from the

date of diagnosis or self-referral for as long as necessary.

(2) The pathologisation of any form of sexual orientation,

gender identity and, or gender expression as may be classified

under the International Classification of Diseases or any other

similar internationally recognised classification, shall be null and

void in Malta. The nullity of such classification shall not impact

negatively the provision of any healthcare service related to sex

and, or gender.

(1) The Minister, after consulting the Minister responsible

for health, shall appoint a working group.

(2) The working group shall consist of a Chairperson and nine

members.

(3) The Chairperson shall be a medical doctor with at least

twelve years experience.

(4) The members shall be three experts in human rights issues,

three psychosocial professionals and three medical experts.

(5) The Minister shall appoint the working group within three

months of the entry into force of this Act.

(6) The members of the working group shall review the current

medical treatment protocols in line with current medical best

practices and human rights standards and shall, within one year

from the date of their appointment, issue a report with

recommendations for revision of the current medical treatment

protocols.

The Minister may make regulations to give better effect to

any of the provisions of this Act and generally to regulate gender

identity in conformity with the provisions of this Act.