Att dwar l-Ippjanar tal-Iżvilupp (annualreport)

The short title of this Act is the Development Planning

Act.

Amended by

L.N. 109 of 2020.

Provisions with respect to the Executive Council

1. The provisions of this schedule regulate the procedures to be used by the

Executive Council.

2. Subject to the provisions of this Act, including this Schedule, the Executive

Council may regulate its own procedure. It may also convene and conduct meetings

using such electronic or other viable means of communication as it deems appropriate, in

which case any reference in this Schedule to a quorum or any reference made to presence

of or voting by the member of the Executive Council at the meeting, shall be construed

accordingly, and any such meeting held by using electronic or other viable means of

communication shall have the same effect at law as a meeting held without such means.

3. When the Executive Council is considering plans and policies, the spatial

strategy for environment and development, subsidiary plans and policies, and the

making of orders as regulated under Part V of this Act, the following procedure shall

be observed

(a) The quorum shall consist of the Executive Chairperson or acting

Executive Chairperson and at least three other members of the Council.

(b) The Executive Chairperson, or the acting Executive Chairperson acting

in his place, shall have an original vote and in the case of a tie a casting

vote. All members of the Executive Council except those having

observatory status present at the meetings shall cast their vote in favour

or against any motion put to the vote. Decisions shall be adopted by a

simple majority of the votes of the members present and voting.

(c) Without prejudice to the provisions of article 13, a member of the

Executive Council who has a direct or indirect interest in any matter

coming before the Executive Council for consideration shall, not later

than the first meeting held after the relevant circumstances have come

to his knowledge, disclose the nature of his interest. Such disclosure

shall be recorded in the minutes of the meeting and the member

(i) shall not take part in any discussions or decisions of the Executive

Council with respect to that matter; and

(ii) shall be disregarded for the purpose of constituting a quorum for

any such discussions or decisions.

(d) All acts done by any person in good faith as a member of the Executive

Council shall be valid and effective as if he were a member even if some

defect in his qualification for appointment is subsequently discovered.

(e) The Executive Council may not delegate to the Executive Chairperson

or any of its members, the power to endorse any documents or plans

relating to any matter under its consideration.

(f) The meetings of the Executive Council shall be open to the public when the

Executive Council is considering a planning control application in terms of

article 54(1), (2) and (3), descheduling and requests for reconsideration of

scheduling in terms of article 57(10), and the Executive Council shall

allow the applicant or the owner (in the case of requests for

reconsideration from scheduling) and his representative, or any one of

them, and any interested third party who made representations in

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accordance with the provisions of any regulations made under article

54(3), to make submissions on any matter under consideration. The

Executive Chairperson, at his absolute discretion, may also allow any

other member of the public to make submissions, subject to the power

of the Executive Chairperson to exclude any member of the public if he

deems it necessary so to do for the maintenance of order and to limit the

participation of the applicant and his representative or of the interested

third party who made representations in accordance with the provisions

of any regulations made under article 54(3) or the public as he may

deem appropriate

Provided that for such meetings in which the Executive Council is to

consider a planning control application in terms of article 54(1), (2) and

(3), descheduling or a request for reconsideration of scheduling in terms

of article 57(10), the Executive Chairperson may, where he deems

appropriate, convene and conduct the meeting of the Executive Council

through such electronic or other viable means of communication as he

deems appropriate. In such case, and subject to the powers of the

Executive Chairperson in accordance with the foregoing paragraph, the

applicant or the owner (in the case of requests for reconsideration from

scheduling) and his representative, or any one of them, any interested

third party who made representations in accordance with the provisions

of any regulations made under article 54(3), or any member of the

public who, in the absolute discretion of the Executive Chairperson, is

allowed to make submissions, shall be allowed to make submissions

through such electronic or other viable means. The Executive

Chairperson may take all such measures, deemed appropriate in his

discretion, to ensure the proper conduct of the meeting by electronic or

other viable means

Provided further that, in order to allow a member of the public to

participate in any such meeting held through electronic or other viable

means of communication as aforesaid, the Executive Chairperson may,

through a notice posted on the electronic portal of the Planning

Authority, require that anyone interested in participating in the said

meeting, to register such interest, in the manner therein indicated, at

least one working day before the date of the meeting, in order to enable

the Executive Chairperson to take any measure he deems appropriate to

allow the participation of the member of the public. Nothing in this

paragraph shall be interpreted as voiding or annulling the procedure or

parts thereof, including any decision taken by the Executive Council,

should any member of the public fail to participate in the proceedings,

wherever allowed to do so, due to the failure of the electronic or other

means used to conduct the meeting or his inability to do so

Provided further that in the event that the Executive Council conducts

any such meeting of the Executive Council through such electronic or

other viable means of communication, any reference in this Schedule to

a quorum or any reference made to presence of or voting by the

members of the Executive Council at the meeting shall be construed

accordingly

Provided further that any such meeting of the Executive Council held

through electronic or other viable means of communication in accordance

with this paragraph shall have the same effect at law as if the said meeting

was not held through such means.

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(g) Where the Executive Council votes against a recommendation, if any,

made by the Executive Chairperson, the Executive Council shall

register in the relevant file the specific planning reasons adduced by it

justifying the overturning of such recommendation.

(h) Meetings of the Executive Council on the contents of a planning control

application to the Executive Council, may also not be held in public but

votes may not be taken.

(i) Subject to the provisions of this Act, including this Schedule, the

Executive Council may regulate its own procedure.

In this Act unless the contents otherwise requires

"action plan" has the meaning assigned to it by article 49;

"advertisement" means any word, letter, model, sign, placard,

board, notice, device or representation, whether illuminated or not,

in the nature of and employed wholly or in part for the purposes of

advertisement, announcement or direction, including any boarding

or similar structure used or adapted for use for the display of

advertisements;

"agency of Government" means a body corporate established by

law and a company in which the Government or such body

corporate, or a combination thereof, has a controlling interest or

which is a subsidiary of such a company;

"agriculture" means a human activity consisting in the growing of

crops and rearing of animals for purpose of production of food or other

products and includes horticulture, fruit-growing, seed production,

forage growing, milk production, rearing and keeping of livestock

(including any creature kept for the production of food, wool, leather,

fur or for use in the cultivation of land or as breeding stock) as well the

use of land for grazing or as a meadow and "agricultural" shall be

construed accordingly;

"alteration" or "alterations" in relation to development includes

(a) plastering or painting or the removal of plaster or stucco, or (b)

the replacement of a door, window or roof, that materially alters the

external appearance of a structure so as to render the appearance

inconsistent with the character of the structure or neighbouring

structures;

"appeal" means an appeal to the Environment and Planning

Review Tribunal or to the Court of Appeal, as the case may be;

"application" means any form of application made to the

* see article 1(2) of the Act, as originally enacted, and Legal Notice 106 of 2016.

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authority in terms of this Act;

"Authority" means the Planning Authority established under

article 5 and includes any body or other person acting on its behalf

under powers delegated by the Authority under this Act, and the

Minister may, by order in the Gazette, designate different bodies or

persons as a competent authority for different provisions and

different purposes of this Act or any regulations made thereunder;

"building" includes any structure or erection and any part of a

building, but does not include plant or machinery comprised in a

building;

"building levy" means the Development Permission Fee under

article 81(1) together with the Infrastructure Service Contribution

under article 81(2);

"building operations" includes rebuilding operations, structural

alterations to or additions to buildings, and other operations

normally undertaken in the course of construction works;

"commencement notice" means a notice submitted by the perit on

behalf of the applicant to the Authority at least five (5) days prior to

the date of commencement of works or of the utilization of a permit, to

notify the Authority of the date of commencement of works or of the

utilization of a permit;

"compliance certificate" means a certificate issued in terms of

article 102;

"conservation" in relation to natural heritage, means a series of

measures required to maintain or restore the natural habitats and

the population of species of wild fauna and flora at a favourable

status;

"conservation" in relation to cultural heritage, means any activity

required to maximize the endurance or minimize the deterioration

of any cultural property as far as possible and includes examining,

treating, recording, preserving, maintaining, rehabilitating and

restoring any such property or any part thereof;

"the Commission" means the Planning Commission established

under article 65;

"days" means calendar days;

"derivatives" means parts of any specimen, whether processed by

man or not;

"development brief" has the meaning assigned to it by article 51;

"development" means any interventions that fall under the

provisions described in article 70;

"development order" means an order made under article 55;

"development permission" means a permission to carry out or

retain development granted by the Planning Board or the Planning

Commission either in consequence of an application or of a

development order;

"development planning" means a planning system which shall

have as its main objective sustainable development;

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"engineering operations" includes any physical changes to the

land surface and sea bed, to the site topography, or the formation or

laying out of roads and of means of access to roads;

"environment" means the whole of the elements and conditions,

natural or man-made, existing on earth, whether together or in

isolation, and in particular

(a) the air, water and land;

(b) all the layers of the atmosphere;

(c) all organic and inorganic matter and all living

organisms;

(d) all ecosystems; and

(e) the landscape;

"Environmental Impact Assessment" means an assessment in

terms of the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations or

other regulations applicable from time to time;

"environmental NGOs" means non-governmental organizations

promoting environmental protection and which are registered under

the Voluntary Organisations Act;

"erection" in relation to buildings, includes extension, alteration

and re-erection;

"fauna" means all types of animals and other biota including

akaryotes, prokaryotes and eukaryotes, dead or alive, in whole or in

part and their derivatives;

"flora" means all types of plants and other biota including

akaryotes, prokaryotes and eukaryotes, dead or alive, in whole or in

part and their derivatives;

"functions" includes responsibilities, powers and duties;

"Gazette" means the Government Gazette;

"illegal use" is limited, in relation to land, to use not covered by

a development permission issued by an authority related to

development;

"illegal works" means any works on, in, over or under land,

carried out after 1967 and not covered by a development

permission issued by an authority related to development;

"IPPC permit" means a permit in terms of the Industrial

Emissions (Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control)

Regulations;

"land" includes a building and also land which has been formed

following land reclamation and also the sea and the seabed;

"land reclamation" means the gain of land from the sea, or

wetlands, or other water bodies and restoration of productivity or

use to lands that have been degraded by human activities or

impaired by natural phenomena;

"land use planning" shall include regulation both on land and

land to be reclaimed from sea;

"local council" means a local council established under the Local

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Government Act;

"local plan" has the meaning assigned to it by article 48;

"maintenance operations" shall not include demolition and

rebuilding works, irrespective of where such demolition and

rebuilding works are carried out;

"major projects" is a project as defined by regulations under this

Act;

"minerals" includes all minerals and substances (including oil

and natural gas) in or under land of a kind ordinarily worked for

removal by underground or surface working;

"the Minister" means the Minister or Parliamentary Secretary

under whose portfolio the Authority is included;

"owner" means -

(a) a person who in his own right or as a duly authorised

agent for another, is entitled to receive the rent of the

land or, where the land is not let, would be so entitled

if it were let, but does not include a person who holds

the land under title of an agricultural lease;

(b) where the land is subject to usufruct, the bare owner or

the usufructuary;

(c) an emphyteuta;

(d) any one of the co-owners of the land on which

development takes place;

(e) any one of the spouses, where the land to which the

development relates forms part of the community of

acquests;

(f) the director or directors of the company duly

authorised to appear and represent the company which

owns the land to which the development relates;

"permission" means a development permission;

"person" includes a body or other association of persons whether

granted legal personality or not and shall include environmental

NGOs;

"plan" means a plan approved in accordance with the provisions

of this Act;

"policy" means a policy approved in accordance with the

provisions of this Act;

"position statement" means a statement issued by either the

Minister or the Executive Council in order to provide a detailed

technical explanation justifying a position with respect to a specific

planning issue;

"prescribed" means prescribed by regulation, rule, order or other

instrument made as provided in the provisions of this Act

empowering the making of any such instrument;

"projects of common interest" means a project necessary to

implement the energy infrastructure priority corridors and areas set

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out in Annex I to Regulation EC No. 347/2013 and which is part of

the Union list of projects of common interest referred to in article 3

of Regulation EC No. 347/2013 or other regulations applicable

from time to time;

"public officer" has the meaning assigned to it by article 124 of

the Constitution;

"registered interested person or party" means any person who

makes representations as provided for in article 71(6);

"regulation" means a regulation made under article 84;

"road" means any road, whether public or private, and includes

any street, square, court, alley, lane, bridge, footway, passage or

quay, whether thoroughfare or not;

"scheduled buildings" has the meaning assigned to it by article

57;

"Standing Committee" means the Standing Committee on the

Environment, Climate Change and Development Planning

established in terms of article 60;

"Spatial Strategy" means the Spatial Strategy for Environment

and Development as defined in article 44;

"subject plan" has the meaning assigned to it by article 47;

"subsidiary plans" includes subject plans, local plans, action

plans or management plans and development briefs;

"Tribunal" means the Environment and Planning Review

Tribunal established under the Environment and Planning Review

Tribunal Act;

"use", in relation to land, does not include the use of the land by

the carrying out of any buildings, engineering, mining or other

operations thereon;

"waste" means anything, substance or object which the holder

discards or intends to discard, or is required to keep in order to discard,

and includes such other thing, substance or object as the Minister may

prescribe.

PART II

Duty to promote a Comprehensive, Sustainable,

Land Use Planning System

Amended by

L.N. 109 of 2020.

Provisions with respect to the Planning Board

and the Planning Commissions

1. The provisions of this Schedule regulate the procedures to be used by the

Planning Board and the Planning Commissions. For the purposes of this Schedule,

wherever the word "Planning Board" is used, it is to be construed as to include the

Planning Commissions, unless the context otherwise requires.

2. The Planning Board may act notwithstanding any vacancy amongst its

members, provided there is a quorum present at the meeting.

3. The quorum of the Planning Board shall consist of the Chairperson or

deputy Chairperson and not less than half the number of the other members

constituting the Planning Board, at the time of the meeting.

4. The meetings of the Planning Board shall be called by the Chairperson

either on his own initiative or at the request of any two members of the Planning

Board, and the Planning Board shall also meet at such times as it may itself decide.

5. The Chairperson, or the deputy Chairperson acting in his place, shall have

an original vote, and where the votes are equally divided, a second or casting vote.

All members of the Planning Board present at its meetings shall cast their vote in

favour or against any motion put to the vote. Decisions shall be adopted by a simple

majority of the votes of the members present and voting.

6. Without prejudice to the provisions of article 13, a member of the Planning

Board who has a direct or indirect interest in any matter coming before the Planning

Board for consideration shall, not later than the first meeting held after the relevant

circumstances have come to his knowledge, disclose the nature of his interest. Such

disclosure shall be recorded in the minutes of the meeting and the member

(a) shall not take part in any discussions or decisions of the Planning Board

with respect to that matter; and

(b) shall be disregarded for the purpose of constituting a quorum for any

such discussions or decisions.

7. All acts done by any person in good faith as a member of the Planning Board

shall be valid and effective as if he were a member even if some defect in his

qualification for appointment is subsequently discovered.

8. Subject to the provisions of this Act, including this Schedule, the Planning

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Board may regulate its own procedure.

9. The meetings of the Planning Board shall be open to the public, and the

Planning Board shall allow the applicant and his representative, or any one of them,

and an interested third party who made representations in accordance with the

provisions of article 71(6), to make submissions on any matter under consideration.

The Chairperson, at his absolute discretion, may also allow any other member of the

public to make submissions, subject to the power of the Chairperson to exclude any

member of the public if he deems it necessary so to do for the maintenance of order

and to limit the participation of the applicant and his representative or of the

interested third party who made representations in accordance with the provisions of

article 71(6) or the public as he may deem appropriate

Provided that the Chairperson may, where he deems appropriate, convene

and conduct the meeting of the Planning Board through such electronic or other viable

means of communication as he deems appropriate, in which case, the applicant and his

representative, or any of them, and an interested third party who made representations in

accordance with the provisions of article 71(6), and any member of the public who, in

the absolute discretion of the Chairperson, is allowed to make submissions, shall be

allowed to make submissions through such electronic or other viable means. The

Chairperson may take all such measures, deemed appropriate in his discretion, to ensure

the proper conduct of the meeting by electronic or other viable means

Provided further that, in order to allow a member of the public to

participate in the meeting held through electronic or other viable means of

communication as aforesaid, the Chairperson may, through a notice posted on the

electronic portal of the Planning Authority, require that anyone interested in participating

in the said meeting, to register such interest, in the manner therein indicated, at least one

working day before the date of the meeting, in order to enable the Chairperson to take

any measure he deems appropriate to allow the participation of the member of the public.

Nothing in this paragraph shall be interpreted as voiding or annulling the procedure or

parts thereof, including any decision taken by the Planning Board, should any member of

the public fail to participate in the proceedings, wherever allowed to do so, due to the

failure of the electronic or other viable means used to conduct the meeting or his

inability to do so

Provided further that in the event that the Planning Board conducts the

meeting of the Planning Board through electronic or other viable means of

communication, any reference in this Schedule to a quorum or any reference made to

presence of or voting by the members of the Planning Board at the meeting shall be

construed accordingly

Provided further that meetings of the Planning Board held through electronic or

other viable means of communication in accordance with this paragraph shall have the

same effect at law as if the said meetings were not held through such means.

10. Where the Planning Board votes against a recommendation, if any, made by

the Executive Chairperson, the Planning Board shall register in the relevant file the

specific planning reasons adduced by it justifying the overturning of such

recommendation

Provided that the Planning Board may also delegate to the Chairperson or

any of its members, the power to endorse any documents or plans relating to any

matter under its consideration.

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11. Meetings of the Planning Board where the Executive Chairperson is

providing information on the contents of a development application to the Planning

Board, may also not be held in public but votes may not be taken.

It shall be the duty of the Government to enhance the

quality of life for the benefit of the present and future generations,

without compromising the ability of future generations to meet

their own needs, through a comprehensive sustainable land use

planning system, and to that effect

(a) to preserve, use and develop land and sea for this and

future generations, whilst having full regard to

environmental, social and economic needs;

(b) to ensure that national planning policies are

unambiguous, accessible and clear to the general

public;

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(c) to deliver regular plans in accordance with the needs

and exigencies from time to time;

(d) to identify regional planning shortcomings and address

any problems found in relation thereto;

(e) to apply scientific and technical knowledge, resources

and innovation for the effective promotion of

development planning; and

(f) to consider public values, costs, benefits, risks and

uncertainties involved when taking any decisions.

The Standing Committee on the Environment

and Development Planning

The plans and policies that shall be referred to the Standing Committee in

accordance with the provisions of article 60 are

(a) those plans and policies which refer to the land situated outside the

development zones as defined in the Spatial Strategy or in any other

plan;

(b) those plans and policies which exclusively regulate height limitations

and restrictions thereon;

(c) local plans, excluding minor amendments to such plans;

(d) policies relating to and regulating compliance certificates.

The provisions of article 3 shall not be directly enforceable

in any court, but, notwithstanding this, the principles therein

contained are fundamental to the Government of Malta and these

principles shall be employed in the interpretation of the other

provisions of this Act or of any other law relating to matters

governed by this Act.

PART III

Establishment and Scope of the Authority

List of observatory members of the Executive Council

(i)

National Commission Persons with Disability (KNPD);

(ii)

The Superintendent of Cultural Heritage;

(iii) Occupational Health and Safety Authority;

(iv) Transport Malta;

(v)

Malta Tourism Authority;

(vi) Water Services Corporation;

(vii) Civil Protection Department;

(viii) Enemalta Corporation;

(ix) Any other government department, entity, authority and any other non-

government entity indicated by the Minister from time to time.

There is hereby established an authority, to be known as the

Planning Authority, hereinafter referred to as the Authority, which

shall consist of the Executive Council and the Planning Board.

(1) The Authority shall be a body corporate having a

distinct legal personality and shall be capable, subject to the

provisions of this Act, of entering into contracts, of acquiring,

holding and disposing of any kind of property for the purposes of

its functions, of suing and being sued, and of doing all such things

and entering into all such transactions as are incidental or

conducive to the exercise or performance of its functions under this

Act, including the lending or borrowing of money.

(2) The legal and judicial representation of the Authority shall

be vested in the Executive Chairperson of the Executive Council

Provided that the Executive Chairperson may appoint any

one or more of the other members of the Executive Council or any

one or more of the officers or employees of the Authority to appear

in the name and on behalf of the Authority in any proceedings and

in any act, contract, instrument or other document whatsoever.

(1) The Authority shall be the principal means whereby the

Government shall implement its duties under this Act.

(2)

The functions of the Authority shall be the following

(a) to perform and succeed in the functions which were

previously assigned to the Malta Environment and

Planning Authority under the provisions of the

Environment and Development Planning Act and are

now contained in this Act and to perform and succeed

in the assets, rights, liabilities and obligations of the

Malta

Environment

and

Planning Authority

established under the provisions of the Environment

and Development Planning Act to the extent that the

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Minister may prescribe by regulations under this Act;

(b)

the functions of the Executive Council and the

Planning Board listed under articles 38 and 64;

(c)

to facilitate and coordinate the permit granting process

for projects of common interest;

(d)

Repealed by Act XXI.2022.2.

(e)

the performance of any other functions as may from

time to time be assigned to it by the Minister,

including the functions required to give effect to any

international obligation entered into by Malta relative

to matters regulated by this Act.

(3) The Authority may also exercise all powers of control over

development as may from time to time be delegated to it in writing

by the Minister on behalf of any department or agency of

Government.

(4) It shall be the Minister’s function to ensure that the

Executive Council is fully informed of Government’s strategic

directions relative to development planning, and to monitor the

proper execution of such policies.

(5) The Authority shall execute its duties, functions and

responsibilities in accordance with Government’s strategic

directions relating to development planning.

(6) In the pursuance of its functions under this Act, the

Authority shall, as far as possible, make reference to European

Union best practices and standards.

(7) In the pursuance of its functions under this Act, the

Authority shall regulate its own procedure.

(8) The Authority shall also ensure that it keeps an audit trail of

all its files, including all documentation and reports

Provided that files, documentations and reports may be

digitised and the Authority may after digitisation dispose of hard

copies of files, documentations and reports after a period of twenty

(20) years from date of submission to the Authority or to any other

previous entity carrying out the same functions.

PART IV

Common Provisions

The Authority may, in accordance with the provisions of

this Act and with the approval of the Minister, delegate any one or

more of its functions under this Act under such conditions as it may

deem appropriate. Notice of any such delegation shall be published

in the Gazette.

The Executive Council may with the approval of the

Minister appoint advisory boards and committees to assist it in the

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performance of its functions under this or any other law. The

functions of the said boards and committees shall be prescribed by

the Executive Council with the approval of the Minister.

(1) Subject to the other provisions of this Act, the affairs

and business of the Authority shall be the responsibility of the

Executive Council. The executive conduct of the Authority, its

administration and organisation and the administrative control of

its Directorates and of its officers and employees, shall be the

responsibility of the Executive Chairperson of the Executive

Council, who shall also have such other powers as may from time

to time be delegated to him by the Minister.

(2) The Authority and each of its Directorates may exercise any

one or more of their functions or responsibilities either directly or

through any of their officers or employees authorised for the

purpose.

(3) Where in this Act anything is to be done by or with respect

t o t h e A u t h o r i t y, a n y s u c h t h i n g m a y a l s o b e d o n e b y t h e

Directorates, under whose jurisdiction the matter falls by reason of

a delegation of function to such Directorate; and for the purposes

aforesaid any reference in this Act to the Authority includes a

reference to the appropriate Directorate.

(1) The Executive Chairperson shall, himself or his

representative, have the right to be present and participate at all

meetings of the Planning Board, the Commission and all the

meetings held by all the boards and committees appointed by the

Executive Council.

(2) The Minister, in consultation with the respective

chairperson of the Executive Council and the Planning Board shall

appoint a secretary to assist the respective entity. The secretary

shall have the duty of calling meetings and keeping minutes and

assume such other duties as the chairperson of the Executive

Council or Planning Board may delegate to him.

(3) The Executive Council shall also appoint an Internal

Auditor. The Internal Auditor shall

(a) oversee the systems of internal control and risk

management of the Authority and assist and support

the Authority in discharging its responsibilities in

relation thereto;

(b) provide the communication link with external auditors

and evaluate and coordinate the audit and financial

reporting process of the Authority;

(c) scrutinize and evaluate any transaction to be entered

into by the Authority with a value exceeding two

hundred and fifty thousand euro (€250,000); and

(d) review and assess the effectiveness of the management

of the Authority in its compliance with policies and in

the discharge of its regulatory and compliance

functions in so far as financial matters are concerned.

(4)

The Internal Auditor shall report directly and exclusively to

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the Executive Council in accordance with procedures established

by the Executive Council.

(1) Subject to the provisions of the Constitution, any other

enactment applicable thereto, and without prejudice to the other

provisions of this Act, the employment and appointment of officials

and other employees of the Authority shall be made by the

Executive Council and the terms and conditions of their

employment and appointment shall be established by the Executive

Council with the concurrence of the Minister.

(2) The Executive Council may, with the approval of the

Minister given after consultation with the Minister responsible for

finance, establish a scheme or schemes, whether by contributory or

non-contributory arrangements or partly by one and partly by the

other, for the payment of pensions, gratuities and other like benefits

to its officers and employees on their retirement, death or injury, or

to their dependants.

(1) Where any member of the Authority, or a member of

the staff of the Authority, or a consultant, advisor or other person

engaged by the Authority, has any interest in any matter which falls

to be considered by the Authority, he shall upon becoming aware of

such interest

(a) disclose to the Executive Council or the Planning

Board, as the case may be, the nature of his interest;

(b) neither influence nor seek to influence the processing

and the decision in relation to such matter;

(c) take no part in any consideration of such matter; and

(d) not attend nor participate in any meeting on such

matter.

(2) Where a question arises as to whether or not a course of

conduct, if pursued by a person, would constitute failure by him to

comply with the requirements of sub-article (1), the question shall

be referred to the Executive Council or the Planning Board as the

case may be and the decision taken and its motivation shall be

recorded in the minutes of the meeting during which the decision

was taken and such person is to be duly informed.

(3) Where a disclosure is made to the Executive Council or the

Planning Board as the case may be pursuant to sub-article (1),

particulars of the disclosure shall be recorded in the minutes of the

relative meeting.

(4) Where a person to whom sub-article (1) applies, excluding

members of the Authority, fails to make the required disclosure, the

Executive Council shall decide the appropriate action to be taken

which may include, after concurrence from the Minister, the

removal from office or termination of the contract of the person

concerned. In the case of members of the Authority, the provisions

of articles 37(3) and 63(6) shall apply.

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The Executive Council shall appoint and employ, at such

remuneration and upon such terms and conditions as it may, in

accordance with article 12, determine, such officers and employees

of the Authority as may from time to time be necessary for the due

and efficient discharge of the functions of the Authority.

(1) The Prime Minister may, from time to time, direct that

any public officer shall be detailed for duty with the Authority in

such capacity and with effect from such date as may be specified in

the Prime Minister’s direction.

(2) The period during which a direction as aforesaid shall apply

to any officer specified therein shall, unless the officer retires from

the public service, or otherwise ceases to hold office at an earlier

date, or unless a different period is specified in such direction, end

on the happening of any of the following events, that is to say

(a) the acceptance by such officer of an offer of transfer to

the service of, and permanent employment with, the

Authority made in accordance with the provisions of

article 17; or

(b) the revocation of such direction by the Prime Minister,

in relation to such officer

Provided that in relation to a public officer detailed for

duty with the Authority with effect from such date as

the Prime Minister may in a direction as aforesaid

establish, the detailing of such public officer shall

cease to have effect after one year from the effective

date of such direction, unless the direction is revoked

earlier by the Prime Minister.

(3) Where a direction as aforesaid is revoked by the Prime

Minister in relation to any officer, the Prime Minister may, by

further direction, detail such officer for duty with the Authority in

such capacity and with effect from such date as may be specified in

the Prime Minister’s direction, and the provisions of sub-article (2)

shall thereupon apply to the period of duration of such detailing by

any such further direction in relation to such officer.

(1) Where any public officer is detailed for duty with the

Authority under any of the provisions of article 15, such officer

shall, during the time in which such direction has effect in relation

to him, be under the administrative authority and control of the

Executive Council but he shall for all intents and purposes remain

and be considered and treated as a public officer.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, an

officer detailed for duty as aforesaid

(a) shall not during the time in respect of which he is so

detailed

(i) be precluded from applying for a transfer to a

department of the Government in accordance

with the terms and conditions of service attached

to the appointment held by him under the

Government on the date on which he was so

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detailed for duty; or

(ii) receive remuneration and be subject to

conditions of service which are less favourable

than those attached to the appointment under the

Government held by him on the date aforesaid or

which would have become attached to such

appointment, during the said period, had such

officer not been detailed for duty with the

Authority; and

(b) shall be entitled to have his service with the Authority

considered as service with the Government for the

purposes of any pension, gratuity, or benefit under the

Pensions Ordinance and the Widows’ and Orphans’

Pensions Act and for the purpose of any other right or

privilege to which he would have been entitled, and

liable to any liability to which he would have been

liable, but for the fact of his being detailed for duty

with the Authority.

(3) Where an application is made as provided in sub-article

(2)(a)(i) the same consideration shall be given thereto as if the

applicant had not been detailed for service with the Authority.

(4) The Authority shall pay to the Government such

contributions as may from time to time be determined by the

Minister responsible for finance in respect of the cost of pensions

and gratuities earned by an officer detailed for duty with the

Authority as aforesaid during the period in which he is so detailed.

(1) The Executive Council may, with the approval of the

Prime Minister, offer permanent employment with the Authority to

any officer detailed for duty with the Authority under any of the

provisions of article 15 at remuneration and on terms and

conditions as set out by the Authority.

(2) Every officer who accepts permanent employment with the

Authority offered to him under the provisions of sub-article (1)

shall, for all purposes other than those of the Pensions Ordinance

and of the Widows’ and Orphans’ Pensions Act, and saving the

provisions of article 30 of this Act, be deemed to have ceased to be

in service with the Government and to have entered into service

with the Authority on the date of his acceptance, and for the

purposes of the said Ordinance and of the said Act, so far as

applicable to him, service with the Authority shall be deemed to be

service with the Government within the meanings thereof

respectively.

(3) Every such officer as aforesaid who, immediately before

accepting permanent employment with the Authority was entitled

to benefit under the Widows’ and Orphans’ Pensions Act, shall

continue to be so entitled to benefit thereunder to all intents as if

his service with the Authority were service with the Government.

(4) The Authority shall pay to the Government such

contributions as may from time to time be determined by the

Minister responsible for finance in respect of the cost of pensions

and gratuities earned by an officer who has accepted permanent

employment with the Authority as aforesaid during the period

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commencing on the date of such officer’s acceptance.

(5) In the case of a public officer detailed for duty with the

Authority with effect from the date established under the proviso to

article 15(2)( b ) and who subsequently accepts permanent

employment with the Authority the foregoing provisions shall

apply subject to the following provisions of this article.

(6) For the purposes of the Pensions Ordinance the pensionable

emoluments on retirement of any public officer to whom sub-article

(5) applies shall be deemed to be the pensionable emoluments

payable to an officer in Government service in a grade and at an

incremental level corresponding to the post occupied and

incremental level on the date on which the officer retires from the

Authority.

(7)

(a) The classification referred to in sub-article (6) shall be

carried out by a board composed of a chairperson

appointed by the Ministry responsible for finance and

two other members, one appointed by the Ministry

responsible for personnel policies in general in the

public service and one appointed by the Ministry

responsible for the Authority. The classification shall

be subject to the final approval of the Minister

responsible for finance.

(b) Such classification shall take place within three

months of any adjustment of salaries of employees in

Government service and, or of employees of the

Authority.

(c) Without prejudice to article 113 of the Constitution, no

person may, following a classification as aforesaid, be

entitled to rights under the said Pensions Ordinance

less favourable than those to which he would have

been entitled prior to such classification.

(1) Without prejudice to the following provisions of this

article, the Executive Council shall so conduct the affairs of the

Authority so that the expenditure required for the proper

performance of its functions shall, as far as practicable, be met out

of its revenue.

(2) For the purposes of sub-article (1) the Authority shall levy

all fees, rates and other payments prescribed or deemed to be

prescribed by or under this Act or any other law providing for

matters falling under the powers and functions vested in the

Authority by or under this Act.

(3) The Authority shall also be paid by Government out of the

Consolidated Fund such sums as Parliament may from time to time

authorise to be appropriated to meet the costs of specified works or

activities to be continued or otherwise carried out by the Authority.

(4) Subject to such directives as the Minister may give from

time to time after consultation with the Minister responsible for

finance, any excess of revenue over expenditure shall be applied by

the Authority to the formation of reserve funds to be used for the

purposes of the Authority. Without prejudice to the generality of

the power of the Minister to give directives under this sub-article,

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any directive given by the Minister as aforesaid may order the

transfer to the Government, or the application in such manner as

may be specified in the direction, of any part of the fees, rates and

other payments levied in accordance with sub-article (2).

(5) Any funds of the Authority not immediately required to

meet expenditure may be invested by the Authority in such manner

as may from time to time be approved by the Minister.

For the purpose of carrying out any of its functions under

this Act, the Authority may, with the approval in writing of the

Minister given after consultation with the Minister responsible for

finance, borrow, including by way of overdraft or otherwise, or

raise money in such manner, from such person, body or authority,

and under such terms and conditions as the Minister, after

consultation as aforesaid, may in writing approve.

The Minister responsible for finance may, after consultation

with the Minister, make advances to the Authority of such sums as

he may agree to be required by the Authority for carrying out any

of its functions under this Act, and may make such advances on

such terms and conditions as he may, after consultation as

aforesaid, deem appropriate. Any such advance may be made by the

Minister responsible for finance out of the Consolidated Fund, and

without further appropriation other than this Act, by warrant under

his hand authorising the Accountant General to make such advance.

(1) The Minister responsible for finance may, for any

requirements of the Authority of a capital nature, contract or raise

loans, or incur liabilities, for such periods and on such terms and

conditions as he may deem appropriate, and any sums due in

respect of or in connection with any such loan or liability shall be a

charge on the Consolidated Fund.

(2) Notice of any loans, liabilities or advances made or

incurred under the foregoing provisions of this article shall be

given to the House of Representatives as soon as practicable.

(3) Pending the raising of any such loan as is mentioned in sub-

article (1), or for the purpose of providing the Authority with

working capital, the Minister responsible for finance may, by

warrant under his hand, and without further appropriation other

than this Act, authorise the Accountant General to make advances

to the Authority out of the Treasury Clearance Fund under such

terms as may be specified by the Minister upon the making thereof.

(4) The proceeds of any loan raised for the purposes of making

advances to the Authority, and any other moneys to be advanced to

the Authority under this article, shall be paid into a fund specially

established for the purpose and which shall be known as the

"Authority Loan Fund".

(5) Sums received by the Accountant General from the

Authority by way of repayment of advances made to the Authority

under sub-article (3) shall be paid into the Treasury Clearance Fund

and sums received by the Accountant General by way of interest on

such advances shall be paid into the Consolidated Fund.

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

financial year, and shall not later than four weeks before the end of

such year adopt, estimates of the income and expenditure of the

Authority for the following financial year

Provided that the estimates for the first financial year of the

Authority shall be prepared and adopted within such time as the

Minister may by notice in writing to the Authority specify.

(2) In the preparation of such estimates the Authority shall take

account of any funds and other monies that may be due to be paid

to it out of the Consolidated Fund during the relevant financial

year, whether by virtue of this Act or of an appropriation Act or of

any other law; and the Authority shall so prepare the said estimates

so as to ensure that the total revenues of the Authority are at least

sufficient to meet all sums properly chargeable to its revenue

account, including, but without prejudice to the generality of that

expression, depreciation.

(3) The estimates shall be made out in such form and shall

contain such information and such comparisons with previous years

as the Minister responsible for finance may direct.

(4) A copy of the estimates shall, upon their adoption by the

Authority, be sent forthwith to the Minister and to the Minister

responsible for finance.

(5) The Minister shall, at the earliest opportunity and not later

than six weeks after he has received a copy of the estimates from

the Authority, approve the same with or without amendment after

consultation with the Minister responsible for finance.

(1) No expenditure shall be made or incurred by the

Authority unless provision thereof had been made in the estimates

approved as provided in article 22.

(2)

Notwithstanding the provisions of sub-article (1)

(a) until the expiration of six months from the beginning

of a financial year, or until the approval of the

estimates for that year by the House, whichever is the

earlier date, the Authority may make or incur

expenditure for carrying on its functions under this Act

not exceeding in the aggregate one-half of the amount

approved for the preceding financial year;

(b) expenditure approved in respect of a head or subhead

of the estimates may, with the approval of the Minister

given after consultation with the Minister responsible

for finance, be made or incurred in respect of another

head or subhead of the estimates;

(c) if in respect of any financial year it is found that the

amount approved in the estimates is not sufficient or a

need has arisen for expenditure for a purpose not

provided for in the estimates, the Authority may adopt

supplementary estimates for approval by the Minister

and in any such case the provisions of this Act

applicable to the estimates shall as near as practicable

apply to the supplementary estimates.

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The Minister shall, at the earliest opportunity and not later

than eight weeks after he has received a copy of the estimates and

supplementary estimates of the Authority, or if at any time during

that period the House of Representatives is not in session, within

eight weeks from the beginning of the next following session, cause

s u c h e s t i m a t e s t o b e l a i d o n t h e Ta b l e o f t h e H o u s e o f

Representatives, together with a motion that the House approve the

said estimates. One sitting day shall be allotted for the debate in the

House on such motion, and both the motion and the approval of the

estimates by the House may be with or without amendment to the

estimates.

(1) The Authority shall cause to be kept proper accounts

and other records in respect of its operations, and shall cause to be

prepared a statement of accounts in respect of each financial year.

(2) The accounts of the Authority shall be audited by an auditor

or auditors to be appointed by the Authority and approved by the

Minister

Provided that the Minister responsible for finance may,

after consultation with the Minister, require the books and accounts

of the Authority to be audited or examined by the Auditor General

who shall for the purpose have the power to carry out such physical

checking and other verifications as he may deem necessary.

(3) The Authority shall not later than three months after the end

of each financial year cause a copy of the statement of accounts

duly audited to be transmitted to the Minister and to the Minister

responsible for finance together with a copy of any report made by

the auditors on that statement or on the accounts of the Authority.

(4) The Minister shall cause a copy of every such statement and

report to be laid before the House as soon as practicable.

(1) All monies accruing to the Authority shall be paid into

a bank or banks appointed as bankers of the Authority by a

resolution of the Authority. Such monies shall, as far as practicable,

be paid into any such bank from day to day, except such sum as the

Authority may authorise to be retained to meet petty disbursements

and immediate cash payments.

(2) All payments out of the funds of the Authority, other than

petty disbursements not exceeding a sum fixed by the Authority,

shall be made by such officer or officers of the Authority as the

Authority shall appoint or designate for that purpose.

(3) Cheques against and withdrawals from any bank account of

the Authority shall be signed by such officer of the Authority as

may be appointed or designated by the Authority for that purpose

and shall be countersigned by the Executive Chairperson or such

other member or officer of the Authority as may be authorised by

the Authority for that purpose.

(4)

The Authority shall also make provision with respect to

(a) the manner in which and the officer or officers by

whom payments are to be authorised or approved;

(b) the title of any account held with the bank or banks

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into which the monies of the Authority are to be paid,

and the transfer of funds from one account to the other;

(c) the method to be adopted in making payments out of

funds of the Authority, and generally with respect to

any matter which is relevant to the proper keeping and

control of the accounts and books, and the control of

the finances, of the Authority.

The Authority shall not award or enter into any contract for

the supply of goods or materials or for the execution of works, or

for the rendering of services, to or for the benefit of the Authority,

except in accordance with regulations in force regulating the

procurement of all goods and services in the public sector.

The Authority shall, not later than three months after the

end of each financial year, make and transmit to the Minister and to

the Minister responsible for finance a report dealing generally with

the activities of the Authority during that financial year containing

such information relating to the proceedings and policy of the

Authority as either of the said Ministers may from time to time

require. The Ministers shall cause a copy of every such report to be

laid on the Table of the House as part of the estimates referred to in

article 24.

The Authority shall be exempt from any liability for the

payment of any tax on income or duty on documents for the time

being in force in Malta.

(1) For the purposes of the Criminal Code and of any

provision of a penal nature in any other law, the members of the

Authority, namely the Executive Council, the Planning Board and

any committee, board, commission or other body or office

established by this Act, and every officer or employee thereof, shall

be deemed to be and be treated as a public officer.

(2) The members, officers and employees of the Authority in

the performance of their functions under this Act or under any other

law administered by the Authority, shall not be liable for any loss

or damage suffered by any person by reason of anything done or

omitted to be done in good faith in the course of the administration

of this Act or of any other law.

The Executive Council, the Planning Board, the

Commission, any committee, or board may consult with any officer

of the Authority or any other person or entity whose advice is

considered relevant to any matter under its consideration.

(1) Every member of the Executive Council, the Planning

Board, the Commission and each Director shall submit a

declaration of assets in accordance with the procedures established

for this purpose by the Minister.

(2) The Minister shall, in consultation with the Authority,

issue, publish and review a code about the conduct expected of the

m e m b e r s o f t h e A u t h o r i t y, t h e E x e c u t i v e C h a i r p e r s o n ,

chairpersons, Directors and officers of the Authority in connection

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with the performance of the Authority’s functions.

(3) The provisions of the code of conduct shall be taken into

account in deciding whether any such member or officer is unfit to

perform the duties assigned to him under this Act or whether his

term of office is to be renewed.

(4) The names of all the members of the Executive Council, the

Planning Board, the Commission and any committee, board, or

other body established by this Act, and any other change in such

membership shall be published in the Gazette.

(1) The Minister shall, in consultation with the Executive

Council, by regulations under this article provide that members of

the public or such categories of persons as may be prescribed shall

be entitled to request from such Government departments,

authorities, public corporations or other persons as may be

prescribed, such information that they may have in their possession

and relating to development planning. Without prejudice to the

generality of the foregoing, such regulations may prescribe

(a) the nature of the information that may be requested;

(b) the circumstances in which such information may be

requested;

(c) the circumstances in which such information may be

withheld by the requested entity and the publication of

the reasons for which such information is withheld;

(d) the fees that may be charged in respect of the granting

of any such information; and

(e) the time-frame within which such information is to be

supplied.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of sub-article (1), the

Authority shall keep and make available for public inspection at

such reasonable times as it may determine, a register or registers

(a) of all applications for development permission

received by it containing the name of the applicant and

details of the proposal, including documents and

detailed plans;

(b) of all decisions including documents and detailed

plans made on such applications; and

(c) Repealed by Act XXI.2022.3.

Provided that for the purposes of this sub-article the

application report and any plans concerning applications which

relate to national security, defence, banks, prisons, the airport and

other institutions or premises whose security it is desirable to

safeguard as the Authority may establish shall not be made

accessible to the public

Provided further that for the purposes of this article, in the

case of a file held by the Authority, any person shall have access to

that part of the file containing the following information

(i)

the application report of all applications and any

planning report regarding such applications;

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(ii) all

decisions

relating

to

development

permissions issued by the Authority together

with the relative plans and documents including

the reasons for the grant of such permissions or

refusal;

(iii) all

environmental

impact

statements,

environmental planning statements and traffic

impact statements; and

(iv) all alternative site assessments and cost-benefit

analysis.

(3) The Authority shall ensure that detailed information is

made available to the public concerning access to appeal

procedures before the Tribunal and the Court of Appeal, including

information on the rights of any person to institute appeal

proceedings and shall give information on legal time limits and on

mandatory fees payable in respect of such proceedings including

through publication on the electronic website of the Authority.

(1) Where any notice or other instrument or document

whatsoever is required or authorised to be served or given by or

under this Act, it may be served or given in any of the following

(a) by delivering it to the person on whom it is to be

served or to whom it is to be given; or

(b) by leaving it at the usual or last known place of abode

of that person, or of his place of work, or if such

person has furnished an address for service, at that

address; or

(c) by sending it in a registered letter addressed to that

person at the place of abode or the address for service

aforesaid; or

(d) in the case of a body corporate or other body of

persons, by delivering it to an officer or servant

thereof at the registered or principal office, or sending

it in a registered letter addressed to the body aforesaid

at that office; or

(e) in any case in which it is not reasonably possible to

effect service in any of the foregoing manners whether

on all or on any one or more of the persons on whom

service is to be made or notice is to be given, by

affixing the notice or other instrument or document to

be served or given in a conspicuous place on the land

to which it relates and keeping it so affixed for five

working days and by publishing the notice, or other

instrument or document in a local newspaper. Where

the notice, or other instrument or document to be

served or given is affixed on the land but is removed

before the expiry period of five working days, the re-

affixing of the notice, or other instrument or document

shall only be for the remaining period after the

document was removed.

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(2) Where any notice or other document is required or

authorised to be served or given to any person as having an interest

in land, and the name of that person cannot be ascertained after

reasonable inquiry, or is required or authorised to be served on an

occupier of land, the notice shall be deemed to be duly served or

given if it is served or given in any of the manners indicated in sub-

article (1) and addressed to the person having an interest in the

land, by the description of "owner", "occupier", or "owners",

"occupiers", as the case may require.

(3) A person who at any time after a notice is affixed pursuant

to sub-article (1)(e), removes, damages or defaces the notice

without lawful authority shall be guilty of an offence against this

Act.

(1) The Minister may with effect from such date as may be

established by notice in the Gazette repeal the Environment and

Development Planning Act, and, or amend Code of Police Laws

and different dates, rules and procedures may be so established for

the revocation and, or applicability of different provisions thereof.

(2) Any order, rule, regulation, bye-law, notice, plan or policy

or other instrument having the force of law made under the

authority or kept in force under any of the provisions of the

Environment and Development Planning Act, and the relevant

provisions of the Code of Police Laws shall continue in force and

shall continue to have effect as if made under this Act and may be

amended, substituted or revoked accordingly, unless such order,

rule, regulation, bye-law, notice, plan or policy or other instrument

relate to matters which fall under the Environment Protection Act.

(3) Any licence, permission, order, notice or certificate, or any

prosecution or charges, granted or made under or kept in force

under any of the provisions of the Environment and Development

Planning Act, and the relevant provisions of the Code of Police

Laws and still in force immediately before the date of coming into

force of this Act, shall as from such date continue in force as if it

were a licence, permission, order, notice or certificate, or

prosecution or charges, granted or made under a corresponding

provision of this Act, and any such licence, permission, order,

notice or certificate, or prosecution or charges as aforesaid shall be

treated and dealt with accordingly, unless such licence, permission,

order, notice or certificate, or any prosecution or charges granted or

made, relate to matters which fall under the Environment

Protection Act

Provided that in the case of any such licence, permission,

order, notice or certificate issued as operative for a specific period,

such licence, permission, order or certificate shall remain operative

for such a period from the date such licence, permission, order,

notice or certificate was issued.

(4) The Users’ Committee established under the provisions of

article 61, shall perform and succeed all the functions, assets,

rights, liabilities and obligations of the Users’ Committee

established under the provisions of the Environment and

Development Planning Act.

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(5)

Repealed by Act XXI.2022.4.

PART V

Provisions related to the Executive Council

Establishment and Scope of the Executive Council

(1) There is hereby established the Executive Council.

(2) The members of the Executive Council shall consist of the

(a) an Executive Chairperson appointed by the Minister as

established in article 37;

(b) two permanent members who shall be the chairperson

and the deputy chairperson of the Planning Board as

established in article 63;

(c) two permanent members who shall be independent

members and who shall be appointed by the Minister

for a period of three years which may be extended for

further periods of three years each. The provisions of

article 37(3) shall mutatis mutandis apply;

(d) two members who shall be appointed by the Malta

Environment Authority who will always be called in,

without fail, to attend meetings of the Executive Council

by the Executive Chairperson whenever the Executive

Council is considering matters related to policies,

scheduling and planning control applications;

(e) any other observatory member from the list of entities

indicated in the Fourth Schedule who may be called in

to attend meetings of the Executive Council at the

discretion of the Executive Chairperson

Provided that when the Executive Council is considering

scheduling and conservation orders and emergency conservation

order s, the Executive Chairperson shall always call i n the

Superintendent of Cultural Heritage.

(3) The provisions of the First Schedule shall apply to the

Executive Council and regulate its proceedings.

(4) The Executive Council shall transmit a copy of the agenda,

minutes and relative enclosures of its meetings to the Minister for

his information.

(5) A member who has ceased to be a member of the Executive

Council shall be eligible for reappointment, but no person shall be a

member of the Executive Council for more than six years.

(1) The Minister shall appoint an Executive Chairperson.

Such appointment shall be for a period of three years which may be

extended for further periods of three years each.

(2) The Executive Chairperson shall be responsible for the

implementation of the objectives of the Authority as set by the

Executive Council. In the exercise of his functions and without

prejudice to the generality of the foregoing the Executive

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Chairperson shall

(a) assume the overall supervision and control of the

Directorates, including the establishment of

departments as in the opinion of the Executive

Chairperson 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 Executive Council and

of the Directorates and assign to the Directorates such

duties which are by, or in accordance with, the

provisions of this Act vested in such Directorates;

(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

Minister may assign to him from time to time;

(f) establish and co-ordinate working groups that are set

up from time to time to formulate policies, plans or

regulations.

(3) The Executive Chairperson may only be dismissed by a

Resolution of the House of Representatives at any time for a just cause

and it shall be a just cause if the Minister determines that he has not

achieved the targets and objectives set for him by the Minister.

(4) In the absence of the Executive Chairperson, or if the

Executive Chairperson is unable to perform the functions of his

office, whether under this or any other provision of this Act, the

Executive Chairperson may, following consultation with the

Minister, appoint any one of the other members of the Executive

Council or any one of the officers or employees of the Authority to

act as acting Executive Chairperson.

(1) The functions of the Executive Council shall be the

(a) to provide a centralized office for the receipt and

processing of development applications;

(b) to provide a centralized office for the receipt and

processing of complaints, reports and assessment of

information, related to alleged breaches of the

provisions of this Act, and to co-ordinate

investigations undertaken by the competent authorities

whenever the Authority is of the opinion that a breach

should be pursued by enforcement action or other

remedies;

(c) to formulate, implement and update plans and policies

relating to the promotion of proper land and sea use,

both public and private; development planning of land

and at sea, both public and private; and such other

matters as may be necessary, ancillary, incidental or

DEVELOPMENT PLANNING

conducive to the better carrying out of the provisions

of this Act, whilst taking into account the protection

and management of the environment and the

sustainable management of natural resources;

(d) to enforce the control of such development in

accordance with plans, policies and permissions in

terms of this Act;

(e) to carry out national mapping, including carrying out

land surveys of specific areas and keeping up to date

the national geographical database to undertake the

functions mentioned in this sub-article;

(f) to regulate alignment and levelling schemes and their

interpretation on site;

(g) to seek the co-operation of, or make arrangements

with, other entities or persons to enable it to better

monitor the implementation of, and compliance with,

the provisions of this Act;

(h) to establish long and short term objectives and

strategies for the proper administration of the

Authority;

(i) to advise the Minister on the making of guidelines and

regulations under this Act;

(j) to provide support and advisory services, relating to

development planning on land and at sea in a

sustainable manner, to Government and local

authorities in relation to the performance of their

functions;

(k) to undertake research and conduct consultations with

Government

departments,

non-governmental

organisations, private organisations and international

organisations and other persons relating to the

development of planning methods and models relating

to development planning on land and at sea and any

other related matters;

(l) to publish and update, as circumstances may warrant,

an official manual, which shall be published and

updated in electronic format or in any other format as

it may deem necessary, containing such matters as the

Minister may prescribe and which shall be made

available to the public, provided that

(i) no plan or policy or amendment thereto shall

have effect unless it is approved in accordance

with the provisions of this Act and published in

the official manual;

(ii) a plan or policy or an amendment thereto, as the

case may be, shall be published in the official

manual within one month from the date of its

approval in terms of this Act;

(m) to make orders under this Part of this Act;

(n) to issue technical guidance documents as may be

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required from time to time;

(o) Repealed by Act XXI.2022.5.

(p) to appoint from time to time sub-committees for the

purpose of compiling technical reports and, or

identifying procedures to be adopted.

(2) In the execution of its functions under this Part of this Act,

the Executive Council shall consult with the Minister, and it shall

have and may exercise all or any one or more of the powers vested

in it or entrusted to it by this Act.

(1) The Executive Council shall establish Directorates

which shall have their respective responsibilities.

(2) The Executive Council shall in writing vest in the

Directorates established under sub-article (1), and subject to the

overall supervision and control of the Executive Chairperson, such

of the Authority’s functions as relate or are ancillary to the matters

for which such Directorates are made responsible. The said

Directorates are to give effect to the strategies, policies and

directives of the Authority and to otherwise discharge effectively

and efficiently the functions of the Authority in their respective

areas of operation.

(3) Each of the Directorates established under sub-article (1)

shall be headed by a person having adequate experience or

knowledge in the respective area of operation who shall either be a

public officer detailed for duty with the Authority or any employee

of the Authority, or a person detailed to work for the Authority in

accordance with an agreement made between the Authority and a

public or private undertaking.

(4) Such Directors shall be appointed by the Executive Council

with the approval of the Minister for a period of three years which

may be extended for further periods of three years each.

Plans and Policies

Without prejudice to the provisions of this Act,

development planning shall be regulated by plans, policies and

regulations, which are prepared and amended from time to time in

accordance with the provisions of this Act.

(1) The Executive Council shall, out of its own motion,

but after consultation with the Minister, or if so requested by the

Minister, make a plan or a policy on any matter relating to

development planning.

(2) The Executive Council may also, either out of its own

motion, but after consultation with the Minister, or if so requested

by the Minister, review a plan or a policy which is already in force.

(3) When the Minister requests the Executive Council to make

a plan or a policy on any matter relating to development planning

or to review such a plan or policy, he shall make such a request in

writing, containing the reasons for making such a request together

with a statement of goals and objectives to be attained by the plan

or policy or by a revision of such plan or policy.

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(4) The preparation and review of the Spatial Strategy shall be

regulated by the provisions of articles 44 to 46, whereas the

preparation or review of any other plan or policy shall be regulated

by the provisions of article 53

Provided that the Minister may, without prejudice to the

provisions of articles 44 to 46 and article 53, set out any additional

procedure that the Executive Council ought to follow, including the

carrying out of assessments, and, or consultations, including public

consultations, he may deem necessary.

(1) Where the Executive Council informs the Minister

within thirty days of receipt of a request from the Minister to

prepare or review a plan or policy, that it is unable to prepare or

review the plan or policy, the Minister shall request any person that

the Minister deems competent in terms of sub-article (5), including

any government agency, other than the Executive Council, to

prepare on his behalf a plan or policy or a revision of such a plan or

policy.

(2) The Minister shall also request the said person to comply

with article 53(2)(a) and (b).

(3) If the Executive Council agrees with such a plan, policy or

revision thereof, it shall adopt it for submission to the Minister for

his approval; and the provisions of article 53(2) shall, mutatis

mutandis, apply.

(4) If the Executive Council does not agree with the said plan,

policy or revision of such plan or such policy, it shall draw up a

position statement indicating the changes to be made to the said

plan, policy or revision thereof and shall refer both the said plan,

policy or revision of such plan or such policy and its position

statement to the Minister; and the provisions of article 53(2)(g),

(h), (i) and (j) shall mutatis mutandis apply.

(5) The plan, policy or the revision of such plan or policy shall

only be prepared by or under the direction of an expert in the

environment or spatial planning fields, having such qualifications

as the Minister may prescribe.

Without prejudice to the provisions of The European Strategic

Environmental Assessment Directive, the Minister may direct the

Executive Council to subject any plan, policy or strategy adopted

or planned to be adopted by it to a Strategic Environment

Assessment or any other assessment as may by law be prescribed.

Spatial Strategy for Environment and Development

(1) The Spatial Strategy for Environment

and

Development or "Spatial Strategy"

(a) is a strategic document regulating the sustainable

management of land and sea resources covering the

whole territory and territorial waters of the Maltese

Islands;

(b) shall be based on an integrated planning system that

ensures the sustainable management of land and sea

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resources together with the protection of the

environment;

(c) must set out objectives in relation to the sustainable

development and use of land and sea and shall be

illustrated by diagrams as necessary;

(d) must ensure that

(i) plans and policies issued under this Act are

spatial, holistic and comprehensive so that all

factors in relation to land and sea resources and

related environment conservation, are addressed

and included and balance demands for

development

with

socio-economic

considerations and the need to protect the

environment;

(ii) sectoral policies, activities and inputs are

integrated and coordinated with each other,

combining the inputs of all disciplines and

groups;

(iii) all actions are based on a clear understanding of

the natural and legitimate objectives and needs

of the various land users;

(iv) it follows other national policies and plans.

(2) The Executive Council shall monitor the Spatial Strategy

and review it in part as often as may be necessary and in full not

before five years. Every such review shall be made in accordance

with the goals and objectives as set out by the Cabinet and shall

take effect as provided in the following provisions of this Part of

this Act.

(3) In order to achieve the objectives set out in this article, the

Cabinet shall take the necessary measures intended to coordinate

and improve the spatial impacts of other sectoral policies and their

relation to the Spatial Strategy.

(4) For the preparation or review of the Spatial Strategy, the

Executive Council shall carry out surveys of those matters which

affect the character and quality of the environment, its conservation

and its development. These may include

(a) demographic considerations;

(b) the agricultural, industrial, commercial, touristic and

other existing and, or projected economic activities of

the country including the employment patterns arising

therefrom;

(c) leisure and recreation;

(d) social and community services and facilities;

(e) communications, traffic and transport;

(f) public utility services;

(g) the conservation and preservation of natural and man-

made resources;

(h) the state of the environment report National Strategy for

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the Environment, nitrate vulnerable zone mapping,

flood sensitivity mapping, other issues emanating from

water, air quality and waste framework regulations;

(i)

such other matters as may be required by the

Government, or which may be deemed necessary by

the Executive Council.

(5) In preparing or reviewing the Spatial Strategy, the

Executive Council shall have regard to

(a) the current economic policies affecting development;

(b) the current social policies affecting development;

(c) the current environmental policies affecting

development;

(d) the policies of the Government with respect to the

matters set out in sub-article (4);

(e) the resources likely to be available for the

implementation of the plan;

(f) all possible land and sea-use options.

(6) Prior to the preparation of the draft of the Spatial Strategy,

or a review thereof, the Executive Council shall provide adequate

opportunities for individuals and organisations to make

representations for a period of not less than three weeks.

(7) A review of the Spatial Strategy which is necessitated by

the proposed adoption of, or an amendment to a subsidiary plan

need not comply with the provisions of sub-articles (4) and (5) if

the matters referred to therein and that are relevant to the review

have already been carried out in the preparation of the subsidiary

plan.

(1) When the draft of the Spatial Strategy or a review

thereof has been prepared in consultation with the Minister, the

Executive Council shall publish the strategy together with a

statement of the representations it has received during the

preceding public consultation exercise and the responses it has

made to those representations that were received within the

consultation period specified in article 44(6).

(2) The Executive Council shall invite representations on the

draft of the Spatial Strategy to be submitted to it within a specified

period of not less than six weeks.

(3) The draft of the Spatial Strategy, or any review thereof, a

position statement by the Executive Council recommending

changes to the said draft together with all representations made to

the Executive Council and the responses the Executive Council has

made to those representations that were received within the

consultation period specified in sub-article (2) shall, as soon as

practicable, after the expiry of the period specified in sub-article

(2)(a), be referred to the Minister.

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(1) At the conclusion of the procedures set out in the

foregoing provisions, the draft Spatial Strategy, and any review

thereof, shall be considered by the Cabinet of Ministers together

with the Minister ’s position statement and all documentation

indicated in article 45(3).

(2) The Minister shall then cause the draft of the Spatial

Strategy, or as revised by the Cabinet, to be laid before the House

of Representatives together with a motion for a resolution that the

Spatial Strategy be approved by the House of Representatives, with

such amendments, if any, as may be specified in the resolution.

(3) When notice of the motion referred to in sub-article (2) of

this article is given by the Minister, that motion, the draft of the

Spatial Strategy as laid before the House and the representations

received within the consultation period specified in sub-article 2(a)

of article 45, shall be referred to the Standing Committee on the

Environment, Climate Change and Development Planning for its

effective scrutiny. The Standing Committee shall discuss the said

motion, the draft of the Spatial Strategy and the representations

received within the consultation period specified in sub-article (2)

of article 45, not later than one month after they have been referred

to the Standing Committee, and shall report thereon to the House

not later than one month from when it has discussed the motion, the

draft of the Spatial Strategy and the representations above

mentioned

Provided that where the said Standing Committee fails to

report to the House within the said period above mentioned, the

House may pass on to discuss the motion and the draft of the

Spatial Strategy.

(4) The Spatial Strategy, and any review thereof as approved by

the House of Representatives shall have effect as from such date as

may be specified for that purpose by the Minister by order in the

Gazette.

(5) All representations, made to the Executive Council and the

responses the Executive Council has made to those representations

that were received within the consultation period specified in sub-

article (2) of article 45 shall be published by the Executive Council

following the date the Spatial Strategy or review thereof comes into

effect as specified in sub-article (3).

Subsidiary Plans and Policies

(1) A subject plan is a plan that deals with a specific

development planning matter setting out policies in relation to the

specific development planning matter in conformity with the

Spatial Strategy and including also detailed specifications intended

for its implementation.

(2) A subject plan shall consist of a written statement

supported by such documents, maps and diagrams as may be

considered necessary.

(3) Except as otherwise stated in the plan, a subject plan shall

apply to all relevant areas of the Spatial Strategy, whether or not

such areas are also covered by another plan or policy.

DEVELOPMENT PLANNING

(1) A local plan is a plan that deals with the specific

development planning requirements of an area where the rate of

development or redevelopment cannot be satisfactorily managed or

where special factors cannot be taken into account solely on the

basis of the Spatial Strategy. It shall set out detailed policies in

relation to the development planning matters of the area in general

conformity with the Spatial Strategy and where applicable, any

subject plan.

(2) A local plan shall consist of a written statement supported

by such documents, maps of a suitable scale and diagrams as may

be considered necessary.

(1) An action plan or a management plan is a plan for a

specific area where the rate of development or redevelopment

cannot be satisfactorily managed or where special factors cannot be

taken into account solely on the basis of the local plan. It shall set

out detailed policies in relation to development planning matters of

the specific area in general conformity with the local plan and the

Spatial Strategy.

(2) An action plan or a management plan shall consist of a

written statement supported by a map or maps of suitable scale and

by such diagrams as may be necessary.

(1) "Other policies" are detailed policies and guidelines

that deal with the proper and effective management of development

of land and sea other than those already contained in a subsidiary

plan. They shall be in conformity with subsidiary plans and the

Spatial Strategy.

(2) Such policies shall be in a form appropriate to the particular

subject matter and may be supported by such documents,

assessments, maps and diagrams, drawings and illustrations as may

be considered necessary.

(1) A development brief is a document setting out detailed

planning guidance for the development of a specific site or specific

small area where it is considered that such guidance is necessary in

order to secure proper and orderly environmental management or

development of that site or area, or to implement to that specific

site or small area a policy or policies in a plan.

(2) A brief shall consist of a written statement supported by

such maps and diagrams as may be considered necessary.

(3) A brief shall contain guidance and information on the

following matters as may be considered necessary

(a) a description of the site and its location;

(b) guidelines on the development of the site, including

(i) land uses and site layout,

(ii) building form, heights and design,

(iii) any building and landscape features to be

retained,

(iv) access, parking and circulation requirements,

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(v) landscaping and nature conservation aspects;

(c)

environmental matters and constraints including the

necessity of any environmental assessment;

(d)

tenure of the site;

(e)

services and infrastructure;

(f)

the format and content of submission requirements;

(g)

any other information which may be relevant to the

site and to the purpose of the development brief.

In the circumstances where multiple plans and policies

apply to the same matter or area and there is a material conflict

between any of them, precedence should be afforded in the

following order: the Spatial Strategy over the subject plan; the

subject plan over the local plan, the local plan over the action plan

or management plan, the action plan or the management plans over

the development brief and the development brief over other

policies mentioned in article 50.

(1) In the preparation or review or withdrawal of a

subsidiary plan or policy, whether such plan or policy is prepared,

reviewed or withdrawn on the Executive Council’s own motion or

following direction from the Minister, the procedure set out in this

article shall be followed with respect to the said plan or policy.

(2) In the preparation or review of a subsidiary plan or policy,

the Executive Council shall comply to the following procedure

(a) prior to the preparation of the draft of the subsidiary

plan or policy, or a review thereof, the Executive

Council shall provide adequate opportunities for

individuals and organisations to make representations

to the Executive Council for a period of not less than

three weeks;

(b) when the draft of the subsidiary plan or policy or a

review thereof has been prepared, the Executive

Council shall

(i) publish the draft of the subsidiary plan or policy

or a review thereof together with a statement of

the representations it has received during the

preceding public consultation exercise, and the

responses it has made to those representations

that were received within the consultation period

specified in paragraph (a);

(ii) invite representations on the draft of the

subsidiary plan or policy or a review thereof, to

be submitted to it within a specified period of

not less than six weeks;

(iii) refer the draft of the subsidiary plan or policy or a

review thereof to the Standing Committee on the

Environment, Climate Change and Development

Planning established by article 60 for its effective

scrutiny, which Committee shall draw up a report

within the consultation period specified in sub-

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paragraph (ii) and forward it to the Executive

Council;

(c)

if the Executive Council does not make changes to this

draft, it shall adopt it and refer it to the Minister as the

final draft. It shall also forward to the Minister

(i) the statement of representations it has received

during the preceding two consultation exercises;

(ii) the responses it has made as a result of those

representations that were received within the

consultation periods specified in paragraphs (a)

and (b)(ii);

(iii) the report of the Standing Committee on the

Environment, Climate Change and Development

Planning; and

(iv) all the relative documentation and studies in

relation to the preparation of the subsidiary plan

or policy;

(d)

paragraphs (g), (h), (i) and (j) shall then apply;

(e)

if the Executive Council makes changes to this draft

after the public consultation process mentioned in

paragraph (b)(ii), the Executive Council shall adopt

the revised draft and publish the amendments. It shall

then invite representations on the amendments within a

specified period of not less than six weeks and refer the

amendments to the Standing Committee on the

Environment, Climate Change and Development Planning

for its effective scrutiny which Committee shall prepare a

new report if deemed necessary and forward it to the

Executive Council;

(f)

the Executive Council shall refer the final draft of the

subsidiary plan or policy as adopted by it to the

Minister for his approval without further amendments

together with

(i) all the statements of representations and all the

responses made to those representations that

were received within the consultation period

specified for each consultation period;

(ii) all reports prepared by the Standing Committee

on the Environment, Climate Change and

Development Planning;

(iii) a precise indication of all the amendments it has

made to the plan or policy; and

(iv) all the relative documentation and studies in

relation to the preparation of the subsidiary plan

or policy;

(g)

where the Minister agrees with the final draft of the

subsidiary plan or policy or a review thereof, he shall

approve it as submitted by the Executive Council and

shall refer it to the Standing Committee on the

Environment, Climate Change and Development

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Planning where applicable in terms of Schedule III of

this Act for its effective scrutiny. The Standing

Committee shall discuss the subsidiary plan or policy

or review thereof within one month and report to the

House within one month from when the subsidiary

plan or policy was discussed. The Standing Committee

shall also refer a copy of the report to the Minister.

The Minister shall take cognisance of the report and

when no further changes are proposed provide his final

approval. The Executive Council shall also publish a

consolidated version of the subsidiary plan or policy;

(h) where the Minister does not agree with the final draft

of the subsidiary plan or policy or a review thereof as

adopted by the Executive Council, he shall prepare a

position statement informing the Executive Council of

the changes proposed by the Minister to the final draft.

Where in such a position statement it is proposed that

any land be excluded from a development boundary as

indicated in a local plan, the Executive Council shall

publish in the Gazette and in two local daily

newspapers a notice showing the land that is to be

excluded;

(i) the Executive Council shall forthwith amend the final

draft of the subsidiary plan or policy or a review

thereof in accordance with the Minister’s position

statement and submit the same for the Minister’s

approval. The Minister shall refer the amended final

draft of the subsidiary plan or policy or a review

thereof to the Standing Committee on the

Environment, Climate Change and Development

Planning where applicable in terms of Schedule III of

this Act for its effective scrutiny. The Standing

Committee shall discuss the subsidiary plan or policy

or review thereof within one month and report to the

House within one month from when the subsidiary

plan or policy was discussed. The Standing Committee

shall also refer a copy of the report to the Minister.

The Minister shall take cognisance of the report and when

no further changes are proposed provide his final approval.

When further changes are required, the Minister shall

prepare a position statement informing the Executive

Council of the changes required and the Executive

Council shall forthwith amend the amended final draft

in accordance with the Minister’s position statement

and submit the same for the Minister’s final approval;

(j) upon such approval by the Minister, the Executive

Council shall publish the approved subsidiary plan or

policy or a review thereof together with the

representations and responses. The Executive Council

shall also publish a consolidated version of the subsidiary

plan or policy.

(3)

In the withdrawal of a subsidiary plan or policy, the

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Executive Council shall comply with the following procedure

(a) prior to the preparation of a notice of withdrawal of a

subsidiary plan or policy, the Executive Council shall

provide adequate opportunities for individuals and

organisations to make representations to the Executive

Council for a period of not less than six weeks;

(b) consult the Standing Committee on the Environment,

Climate Change and Development Planning established by

article 60 on the intention of preparing a notice of

withdrawal of a subsidiary plan or policy, which

Committee shall draw up a report within the consultation

period indicated in paragraph (a);

(c) on the lapse of the public consultation process

mentioned in paragraph (a) the Executive Council

shall prepare a position statement confirming the

withdrawal of the subsidiary plan or policy, or

otherwise, and refer it to the Minister. It shall also

forward to the Minister

(i) the statement of representations it has received

during the preceding consultation exercise;

(ii) the responses it has made as a result of those

representations that were received within the

consultation period specified in paragraph (a);

(iii) the report of the Standing Committee on the

Environment, Climate Change and Development

Planning;

(d) upon receipt of the position statement and documents

from the Executive Council, the Minister shall refer

them to the Standing Committee on the Environment,

Climate Change and Development Planning where

applicable in terms of Schedule III of this Act for its

effective scrutiny. The Standing Committee shall discuss

the position statement and documents within one month

and report to the House within one month from when the

position statement and documents were discussed. The

Standing Committee shall also refer a copy of the report to

the Minister.

The Minister shall take cognisance of the report and

inform the Executive Council of his final decision

together with reasons for reaching such a decision and

the Executive Council shall forthwith publish a notice

of withdrawal in line with the Minister’s final decision

together with the representations and responses.

(4) The Executive Council shall monitor every subsidiary plan

or policy and review such plan or policy in part or in full, as

frequently as may be necessary. The procedure in this article shall

apply for such reviews.

(1) Minor modifications may be carried out following a

planning control application submitted to the Executive Council by

any person

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Provided the Authority shall not be construed as "any

person" for the purposes of this sub-article.

(2) For the purpose of sub-article (1), the following shall be

considered to constitute minor modifications

(a) changes in the alignment of roads and buildings in a

local plan; and

(b) changes in zoning, other than

(i) changes in height limitation; and

(ii) changes in zoning of a site which lies in an

Outside Development Zone or which is within

the Development Zone but not designated for the

purpose of development.

(3) Where the Executive Council is considering a planning

control application in terms of sub-article (2), this shall be carried

out in accordance with regulations which may be prescribed by the

Minister.

(4) An appeal from a decision concerning a planning control

application related to sub-article (2)(a) under this article may be

lodged before the Tribunal according to the Environment and

Planning Review Tribunal Act.

(5) The Executive Council may, upon a request by any person,

by a decision revoke or modify a decision concerning a minor

m o d i f i c a t i o n a p p l i c a t i o n re l a t e d t o s u b - a r t i c l e (2 ) a n d t h e

provisions of article 80 shall mutatis mutandis apply to such

requests.

Orders

(1) The Executive Council may on its own motion or

following a request by the Minister prepare or review development

orders regulating development and other activities which may

otherwise require the submission of an application prior to their

carrying out, in such circumstances and under such conditions as

may be specified in the order, being development and activities

within the scope of, and not in conflict with, the proposals

contained in any plan or policy approved under this Act.

(2) A development order may include works and activities

deemed compatible with the area in which they are being carried

out.

(3) Development orders under this Act shall not be published

unless a draft of the said orders has been issued for public

consultation thereby allowing any person a period of at least two

weeks to make representations to the Executive Council stating

how in his opinion the proposed or revised orders could be

improved to reach their ultimate aim

Provided that within the said period the Executive Council

shall consult the Chamber of Architects and Civil Engineers and the

Chamber of Planners and shall invite representations to be

submitted to it within the said period

Provided further that the provisions of this sub-article shall

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not apply in respect of any development orders which the Minister

declares to be urgent for reasons related to public health and safety, or

national security or when a form of public consultation was already

carried out before the date of coming into force of this Act

Provided that in all cases, including urgent ones, the Local

Council or Councils affected shall be informed.

(4) Following the consultation period, the Executive Council

shall adopt the development orders with or without amendments

and shall refer the same orders together with representations

received within the consultation period specified in sub-article (3)

together with the relative responses made to such representations to

the Minister for final approval. The Minister may approve the

development orders as adopted by the Executive Council or amend

the development orders and such orders shall then be published in

the Gazette and shall have effect from the date specified or

indicated therein.

(5) Works and activities carried out under development orders

are to be carried out under the supervision of a person holding a

warrant of perit, or under the supervision of such other persons

who are competent for the purpose as the Minister may by

regulations prescribe and, where required in the order as specified

in sub-article (6), works and activities are to be notified in writing

to the Planning Board.

(6)

A development order may regulate

(a) development or an activity described as permitted in a

development order which development or activity does

not require that written notification of such

development or activity be given to the Planning

Board;

(b) development or an activity described as permitted in a

development order provided that written notification

of such development or activity is to be given to the

Planning Board;

(c) development or an activity described as permitted in a

development order provided that written notification

of such development or activity is to be given to the

Planning Board and the Planning Board has endorsed

such development or activity as being permitted.

(7) No new development or activity in terms of a development

order may be carried out on a site if on the said site there exists an

illegal development of whatever nature, or if an activity has been

carried out in breach of the provisions of this Act, unless that new

development or activity is one which the Executive Council may

prescribe and which is covered by a development order as

mentioned in sub-article (6).

(1) The Executive Council may, having regard to the

provisions of this Act, regulations, plans, policies and to other

material considerations, by order served on the owner or occupier

of any land, require any existing use or activity or any works to be

discontinued or any building, plant, equipment or other thing

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whatsoever to be removed from any land, or requiring both such

discontinuance and removal.

(2) Where a discontinuance order or removal order is made in

respect of an activity, works or use, or in respect of a building,

plant, equipment or other thing lawfully carried out or lawfully

existing on the land mentioned in the order, the Authority shall be

liable to pay compensation for any losses sustained as a result of

the order

Provided that any benefits derived from the same

discontinuance order or removal order shall be offset against the

losses aforesaid

Provided further that no such compensation is due if the

permission itself allows the Authority to request the discontinuance

of any existing use or activity or any works to be discontinued or

any building, plant, equipment or other thing whatsoever to be

removed from any land.

(1) A list of

(a) areas, buildings, structures and remains of geological,

palaeontological,

cultural,

archaeological,

architectural, historical, antiquarian, artistic or

landscape importance, (hereinafter referred to as

"scheduled property") shall be prepared by the

Executive Council and scheduled for conservation

through a scheduling order; and

(b) areas of natural beauty, of ecological or scientific

value (hereinafter also referred to as "scheduled

property") shall be prepared by the Malta Environment

Authority and scheduled by the Executive Council for

conservation through a scheduling order

Provided that the Executive Council may in respect of all or

any one or more of the scheduled property also make conservation

orders to regulate their conservation

Provided further that upon the issue of a scheduling order

the owner shall have the right to immediate access at reasonable

times to all documentation of the Authority concerning the

scheduling order for the purpose of studying the relative findings

and considerations.

(2) The list of scheduling orders, and any additions or

amendments thereto, shall be published in the Gazette and in a

local newspaper. The Executive Council shall also notify any one

of the owners of any property subject to a scheduling order of the

fact of its inclusion in the list and of any conservation order made

with respect to it. Notice of such scheduling order shall also be

affixed on site. If none of such owners is known, or if it is not

reasonably possible to effect service on such owners, the said

notice shall only be affixed on site and no service on such owners

as aforesaid need be made. Notice of such scheduling order shall be

registered in an index held for that purpose which index identifies

the property subject to that order. The said index shall be held in an

electronic form in such a way that researches to determine whether

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a property is subject to such an order may be carried out. The

Executive Council shall keep a copy of the said index in the office

of the Land Registry and shall issue a certificate which indicates

whether a particular property is subject to the said order on the

payment of such fee as may be prescribed.

(3) Where the Executive Council has issued a conservation

order in terms of this article, it shall register the said property in the

index mentioned in sub-article (2) indicating the said property as

having been issued with a conservation order, and the provisions of

the said sub-article concerning the indexing of scheduling orders

shall mutatis mutandis apply. The list of conservation orders, and

any additions or amendments thereto, shall be published in the

Gazette and in a local newspaper.

(4) For the purposes of sub-articles (2) and (3), "site" means a

single property or more than one property, irrespective of who is

the owner of that property, which forms part of the land which is

scheduled or which is subject to a conservation order in terms of

this article.

(5) The carrying on of any work in, and the demolition,

alteration or extension of, any scheduled property is prohibited or

restricted as provided in this article or in the relative conservation

order.

(6) No works of any description shall be carried out in or on

any scheduled property and no scheduled property shall be

demolished, altered or extended except with the permission of the

Planning Board, granted on an application made to it and giving

such details as the Planning Board may require or in accordance

with the provisions of a conservation order, and for the purpose of

this article, damage to or destruction of any part of a scheduled

property shall be deemed to be a demolition thereof

Provided that a scheduling order or a conservation order

shall not adversely affect development already legally carried out

before the coming into force of this Act or development already

granted by a development permission under this Act, before the

scheduling order or conservation order is issued.

(7) A permission granted by the Planning Board or a

conservation order made by the Executive Council under this

article may contain such conditions and other provisions as the

Authority may deem necessary or expedient, and a conservation

order may regulate any matter affecting scheduled property.

(8) In respect of any scheduled property subject to a

conservation order, the Executive Council shall also have power to

require the owner, by notice in writing, to undertake such works

generally, or as may be specified in such notice as may be

necessary to ensure that no further deterioration occurs. In default,

the Executive Council may give a further notice to the owner to

carry out and complete the works within a specified time, and if the

owner is still in default it may itself carry out, or cause to be

carried out, the necessary works and recover the cost thereof from

the owner of the scheduled property.

(9)

If any scheduled property is demolished in contravention of

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any of the provisions of this article, then, in addition to any penalty

or other effect under this Act, every person convicted of such

offence shall be liable to pay compensation to the Authority

calculated on the basis of whichever is the highest of the following

(a) the value of the thing destroyed,

(b) the cost of restoration or repair,

(c) the financial benefit which could be achieved as a

consequence of the demolition.

(10) An owner of scheduled property may request the

reconsideration of any scheduling of his property. Such request

shall be entered in writing with the Executive Council within thirty

days of notification or publication in the Gazette of the scheduling

order, whichever is the later, and the Executive Council shall

decide within three months of receipt of such request.

(11) Any person who feels aggrieved by a decision of the

Executive Council under this article may appeal to the Tribunal for

a revocation or modification of such a decision according to the

provisions of the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal Act.

(12) Notwithstanding the right to appeal before the Tribunal as

established by the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal Act,

an appeal to the Tribunal from a scheduling of property or the

descheduling of property or its downgrading in the protection

afforded by the scheduling or the issue of a conservation order shall

not stay the execution of such scheduling or conservation order.

(1) If a property, site or area which is not scheduled or

protected under the provisions of this Act or any regulations made

thereunder, but which the Executive Council believes could have an

importance or value sufficient to have it scheduled or protected, is

at risk of being demolished, damaged or destroyed, the Executive

Council may make an emergency conservation order and take such

further steps for the protection of such property, site or area as it

may deem necessary and the provisions of the proviso to sub-article

(1) of article 57 shall apply

Provided that in case of urgency the Executive Chairperson

may make an emergency conservation order without the need of

consulting the other members of the Executive Council.

(2) An emergency conservation order shall be published in the

Gazette and shall have effect immediately on its publication.

(3) An emergency conservation order shall, for a period of

twelve months from its publication in the Gazette, have the same

effect as the inclusion of the property to which it refers in the list of

scheduled property. It shall cease to have any effect on the

expiration of the period aforesaid.

(4) An appeal to the Tribunal from an emergency conservation

order shall not stay the execution of such order.

The Development Planning Fund

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(1) The Authority shall set up a fund, hereinafter referred

to as the Development Planning Fund.

(2) The Development Planning Fund shall be administered by

the Executive Council.

(3) The Development Planning Fund shall be used to finance

both public and privately owned projects, programmes and

schemes, and costs intended to enforce and manage the aims and

objectives of this Act, as well as works which may be needed for

that purpose or to remedy any harm caused to the environment in

connection with any contingency or emergency plan, or to finance

such other activities, including activities organised by non-

governmental organisations, as the Minister in consultation with

the Executive Council may prescribe

Provided that, without prejudice to the aforesaid, the

Development Planning Fund shall not be used to finance other costs

of the Authority.

(4)

There shall be paid into the Development Planning Fund

(a) any sums appropriated by Parliament for the purpose;

(b) any donations or grants made to the Development

Planning Fund by individuals or institutions;

(c) sums received by the Authority for the purpose of

being placed in the Development Planning Fund;

(d) such other sums or monies as may from time to time be

provided by, or under this or any other law or

regulations.

(5) The Executive Council shall keep a proper account of the

revenue and expenditure of the Development Planning Fund and it

shall, without prejudice to the powers of the Auditor General and of

the Minister responsible for finance under any law, each year cause

the accounts of the Development Planning Fund to be audited by

suitably qualified Public Auditors and Accountants appointed by it

with the concurrence of the Minister.

(6) The Executive Council shall every financial year deliver to

the Minister, a copy of a duly audited balance sheet together with a

report of the activities during the previous financial year of the

Development Planning Fund. The Minister shall lay a copy of the

balance sheet and of the report on the Table of the House within a

month of the receipt of same from the Executive Council.

(7) The revenue generated through the Development Planning

Fund shall not be subject to tax under the Income Tax Act, and it

shall not be liable to tax under the Duty on Documents and

Transfers Act.

(8) The Minister, after consulting the Executive Council, may

make regulations prescribing the procedure to be followed by the

Executive Council in the management of the Development

Planning Fund.

(9) The Executive Council may set up other funds and

prescribe what shall be paid into such funds and how the said funds

shall be administered and used. The provisions of sub-articles (4),

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(5), (6), (7) and (8) shall apply mutatis mutandis to such other

funds.

PART VI

Policy Advisory Committees

The Standing Committee on the Environment, Climate Change and

Development Planning

(1) There shall be a Standing Committee on the

Environment, Climate Change and Development Planning which shall

consist of five members appointed by the House, of whom three shall

be members representing the Government, one of whom shall be

appointed as Chairperson, and the other two shall be members

representing the Opposition.

(2)

The Standing Committee shall discuss any strategy, plan or

policy referred to it in terms of articles 46 and 53 and any other matter

referred to it in terms of the Environment Protection Act and the

Climate Action Act and prepare a report and refer it to the House and

to the Minister.

Such a report may also include any dissenting opinion on the

strategy, plan or policy. The Minister shall take cognizance of the

report

Provided that where the said Standing Committee fails to

prepare a report within the period stipulated in this Act, the Executive

Council may adopt the said strategy, plan or policy and the Minister

may also approve the said strategy, plan or policy as forwarded to him

by the Executive Council.

The Users’ Committee

(1) There shall be a Committee, to be known as the Users’

Committee, which shall consist of not less than seven and not more

than eleven members being not more than one representative from

each of the interested national constituted bodies recognised by the

Minister. The Users’ Committee shall be autonomous from the

Authority and shall be appointed by the Minister.

(2) The Users’ Committee shall propose to the Executive

Council such changes to administrative processes and practices in

relation to planning matters as it may deem appropriate. It shall

report to the Executive Council at least every six months. A copy of

such a report is also to be forwarded to the Minister.

Repealed by Act XXI.2022.6.

PART VII

Provisions related to the Planning Board

The Planning Board

(1) There is hereby established a Planning Board which

shall consist of the members mentioned in sub-article (2), which

members shall, save as hereunder provided, be appointed or

chosen, as the case may be, by the Minister.

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(2) The members of the Planning Board shall consist of the

(a) a Chairperson, who shall be chosen from the five

members mentioned in paragraph (b);

(b) five members, (hereinafter called the "independent

members") chosen from amongst persons of known

integrity and with knowledge of and experience in any

of the following

(i) commerce, economy and industry;

(ii) cultural heritage;

(iii) matters relating to environment, development,

social and community affairs;

(iv) sustainable development and urban planning;

and

(v) architecture and infrastructure;

(c) one member who shall be chosen from amongst the

chairperson/s of the Planning Commissions;

(d) two members who shall be members of the House of

Representatives and of which one shall be appointed

by the Prime Minister and the other by the Leader of

the Opposition;

(e) a member representing the interests of environmental

NGOs, who shall be chosen from amongst a number of

persons nominated by the said NGOs;

(f) a member representing the Malta Environment

Authority;

(g) three public officers representing the Government

being persons who have experience or qualifications in

matters concerning any of the following: planning, the

environment, the infrastructure, social policy in so far

as it relates to land use, economic affairs, agriculture,

tourism and transport;

(h) a member chosen by the local council, within whose

boundaries a major project application lies, which

member shall be considered as a member of the

Planning Board only when the Planning Board is

deliberating and deciding a major project application

within the boundaries of that particular local council.

In the case where a major project lies within more than

one local council boundary, the member shall be

chosen from among the persons chosen by the

respective local councils within whose boundaries a

major project application lies

Provided that the Planning Board shall be properly constituted

and may function notwithstanding any failure to appoint either or

both members of the Planning Board mentioned in paragraph (d), or

any failure to make the required nominations under paragraphs (e)

(3)

The Chairperson of the Planning Commission appointed as

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member of the Planning Board shall be appointed as deputy

chairperson.

(4) Save as provided in sub-articles (2) and (3), no person shall

be qualified to be appointed as, or remain, a member of the

Planning Board if he

(a) is a public officer

Provided that the Executive Chairperson and the

Chairperson of the Planning Commission, shall not be

considered as public officers for the purposes of this

sub-article;

(b) is an employee of any department, agency, Corporation

or Authority of the Government, provided that for the

purposes of this paragraph a member of the academic

staff of the University shall be excluded;

(c) is a Minister, Parliamentary Secretary or a member of

the House of Representatives, of the European

Parliament or of a Local Council;

(d) is a judge or magistrate of the courts of justice;

(e) has a financial or other interest in any enterprise or

activity which is likely to affect the discharge of his

functions as a member of the Planning Board

Provided that the Minister may determine that the

person’s interest is not likely to affect the discharge of

his functions and upon such determination that person

shall be qualified to hold the office of member of the

Planning Board provided that the declared interest and

the Minister’s determination are published in the

Gazette;

(f) is interdicted or incapacitated;

(g) is convicted of an offence affecting public trust, or of

theft or fraud, or of knowingly receiving property

obtained by theft or fraud or of bribery or of money

laundering; or

(h) is subject to disqualification under article 320 of the

Companies Act.

(5) The independent members and the member representing the

interests of environmental NGOs, shall hold office for such period,

being not less than three years, as may be specified in the letter

appointing them and if no such period is specified shall remain in

office for three years. In determining such period of office the

Minister shall, as far as practicable, ensure a measure of rotation.

(6) Without prejudice to the provisions of sub-article (5), the

independent members and the member representing the interests of

environmental NGOs may resign by letter addressed to the

Minister, but may not be r emoved from office except by a

resolution of the House of Representatives on the ground of

misconduct or inability to perform the duties of their office.

(7) The member chosen by the local council or chosen by the

Minister from the members nominated by different local councils,

DEVELOPMENT PLANNING

as the case may be, shall remain in office only until the Planning

Board decides the particular major project application within the

boundary or boundaries of the respective local council or local

councils.

(8) The other members of the Planning Board shall hold office

until they are replaced by the Minister, and as long as they remain

public officers or members of the House, as the case may require.

Members of the House may also resign from office by letter

addressed to the authority appointing them.

(9) A person who has ceased to be a member of the Planning Board

shall be eligible for reappointment, but no person shall be a member of

the Planning Board for a total of more than six years.

(10) The provisions of the Second Schedule shall apply to the

Planning Board and regulate its proceedings.

(11) The Planning Board shall transmit a copy of the agenda,

minutes and relative enclosures of its meetings to the Minister for

his information.

The functions of the Planning Board are the issue of any

development permissions that may be required by or in accordance

with this Act under such conditions as it may, without prejudice to any

other provision of this Act or any other law, deem necessary to balance

out any concurrent interests on the best use of land and sea.

(1) There shall be a Commission, to be known as the

Planning Commission, which may have such number of divisions

as the Minister may by order in the Gazette prescribe.

The Commission or such number of divisions of the

Commission, shall deal with such types of applications as the

Minister may, after consulting the Executive Chairperson,

prescribe.

(2) The Commission or in case of there being a number of

divisions, each division of the Commission, shall be appointed by

the Minister and shall consist of three permanent members

including its Chairperson, and one supplementary member. The

Commission shall be chosen from persons of known integrity and

who shall have knowledge of, and experience in, matters relating to

sustainable development

Provided that the three persons who are appointed to act as

permanent members of the Commission or a division of the

Commission, as the case may be, shall attend the meetings of the

Commission and take part in the deliberations and decisions, while

the supplementary member may attend meetings, but shall only

take part in the deliberations and decisions in substitution of any

permanent member who cannot for any reasonable cause properly

fulfil his duties.

(3) The members of the Commission shall hold office for a

period of four years. They shall be eligible for reappointment for

further terms, each term being a period of four (4) years. The

provisions of article 63(6) shall also apply to the members of the

Commission.

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(4) Subject to sub-article (1) of this article and to article 75, the

functions of the Commission shall be such of the functions of the

Planning Board with respect to development control as the

Planning Board may from time to time delegate to it and require it

to perform, subject to such conditions as the Planning Board may

deem appropriate.

(5) The decisions of the Commission on any development

permission issued by it shall be deemed to be, and shall have the

same force and effect as, the decisions of the Planning Board,

except in respect of matters which the Planning Board expressly

reserves to itself or requires to be referred to it for determination,

and the expression "decision of the Planning Board", wherever it

appears in this Act, shall be construed accordingly.

(6) The decisions of the Commission shall only be binding if

they are supported by the votes of not less than two of its members.

The decisions shall be published as soon as practicable after the

meeting at which they are taken.

(7) The Commission shall communicate to the Executive

Chairperson a copy of its decisions and the relative deliberations

leading to its decisions, as soon as practicable after the meeting at

which the decisions are taken.

(8) Subject to the foregoing provisions of this Act, and to the

Second Schedule, and to any rules that may be prescribed by the

Planning Board, the Commission may regulate its own procedures.

(9) The staff of the Commission shall consist of officers and

employees of the Authority detailed to service the Commission,

and the Executive Council shall further provide the Commission,

out of its own resources, with such other support as the

Commission may reasonably require to carry out its functions.

(10) The Commission may at any time draw up reports, which

shall be discussed by the Authority

(a) on any issue relevant to this Act, including on any

particular application;

(b) concerning the development control process; and

(c) on any subject which should be addressed by the

Executive Council by means of a new policy or an

amendment to an existing one.

(1) There shall be a committee known as the Agricultural

Advisory Committee, whose members are appointed by the

Minister.

(2) The Agricultural Advisory Committee shall consist of a

Chairperson representing the Authority and representatives from

the departments, agencies or authorities responsible for agriculture,

veterinary services, resources and environmental health.

(3) Three members of the Agricultural Advisory Committee

shall constitute the quorum at the meetings of the Agricultural

Advisory Committee. The chairperson at a meeting shall have an

original vote and, in the case of equality of votes, a casting vote.

There shall also be a secretary of the Agricultural Advisory

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Committee to be appointed by the Minister and shall have such

duties as may be assigned to it by the Agricultural Advisory

Committee.

(4) It shall be the function of the Agricultural Advisory

Committee to provide professional and expert advice to the

Planning Board on development applications related to agriculture

and other development outside the development zone. The

Committee shall also evaluate development proposals and state

whether the proposed interventions would benefit or hinder

sustainable agriculture, farm, rural development, adducing detailed

reasons thereto. The Committee shall, where appropriate, suggest

methods as to how a development proposal may be rendered

acceptable in terms of sustainable agriculture, farm, and rural

development. The Agricultural Advisory Committee shall also

collate information regarding development applications related to

agriculture.

(5) The Agricultural Advisory Committee shall make available

for public inspection any recommendation made by it to the

Planning Board.

(6) The Agricultural Advisory Committee may call upon any

person to give it expert or professional advice on any matter being

dealt by it.

(7) Subject to the foregoing provisions of this sub-article and

to any rules prescribed by the Minister, the Agricultural Advisory

Committee may regulate its own procedure.

(1) There shall be a committee known as the Design

Advisory Committee.

(2) The

Design

Advisory

Committee

shall

make

recommendations with respect to development applications related

to urban conservation areas and major projects and shall consist of

a chairperson and two other members appointed by the Minister.

(3) Two members of the Design Advisory Committee shall

constitute the quorum at the meetings of the Design Advisory

Committee. The chairperson at a meeting shall have an original

vote and, in the case of equality of votes, a casting vote. There shall

also be a secretary of the Design Advisory Committee to be

appointed by the Minister and shall have such duties as may be

assigned to it by the Design Advisory Committee.

(4) It shall be the function of the Design Advisory Committee

to provide professional and expert advice to the Planning Board in

relation to design in development applications related to urban

conservation areas and major projects.

(5) The Design Advisory Committee shall make available for

public inspection any recommendation made by it to the Planning

Board.

(6) The Design Advisory Committee may call upon any person

to give it expert or professional advice on any matter being dealt by

it.

(7)

Subject to the foregoing provisions of this article and to any

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rules prescribed by the Minister, the Design Advisory Committee

may regulate its own procedure.

(1) There shall be a Registration Board whose function

shall be to evaluate applications for registration in the Register of

Consultants eligible to carry out assessments in relation to matters

as specified in this Act not related to environment.

(2) The Registration Board shall be composed of a minimum of

three members and a maximum of five members, one of whom shall

be the chairperson. The members of the Registration Board shall be

appointed by the Minister.

(3) The members of the Registration Board shall be

independent members and not involved in any way in the

preparation of assessments falling within the jurisdiction of the

Registration Board.

(4) The Registration Board shall assess applications for such

registrations and approve those that meet the requirements for

registration. The Registration Board shall give reasons for its

decisions.

(5) The decision of the Registration Board to grant or to refuse

an application for registration in the Register kept by the Executive

Council shall be notified in writing to the applicant without delay.

(6) The Registration Board may direct the Executive Council to

update the Register at such regular intervals as it may deem fit by

the inclusion of other disciplines in the Register, which disciplines

might have in the meantime evolved.

(7) The decisions of the Registration Board shall be final. An

appeal shall lie to the Tribunal only on the grounds that the

Registration Board has, in its decision, wrongly applied the

provisions of this Act or any regulations made thereunder.

(8) The decision of the Registration Board shall be binding if it

is supported by the opinion of a majority of its members, and the

dissenting member or members, if any, may express his/their

opinion separately, and all decisions of the Registration Board shall

be published as soon as practicable after the sitting at which they

are given.

(9) The Minister may, after consultation with the Registration

Board, make regulations to give better effect to the provisions of

t h i s a r t i c l e a n d , wi t h o u t p r e j u d i c e t o t h e g e n e r a l i t y of t h e

foregoing, he may

(a) establish criteria that applicants are expected to meet

in order to qualify for registration;

(b) establish the procedure to be followed by the

Registration Board;

(c) prescribe a tariff of fees for registration with the

Registration Board.

(1) The Registration Board may, out of its own motion or

at the request of the Executive Council, cancel any approval

granted under the provisions of article 68 or refuse any application

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for a renewal of the registration, when a person

(a) is found guilty by a court of criminal jurisdiction of a

crime being a crime committed through imprudence,

carelessness, unskillfulness in an art or profession, or

non-observance of regulations; or

(b) is found guilty by a court of criminal jurisdiction of

any offence under the provisions of the Act or of any

regulations made thereunder; or

(c) has, in the opinion of the Executive Council and the

Registration Board, submitted sub-standard or

deliberately misleading work in an assessment; or

(d) has participated in the preparation of an assessment

when he was not registered in the Register; or

(e) was the recipient of an approval issued under the

provisions of article 68 based on information given by

the applicant which is false or misleading; or

(f) fails to pay the yearly renewal fee.

(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of sub-article (1), the

Registration Board may opt for a suspension, rather than the

cancellation of an approval, in the circumstances specified in sub-

article (1)(d) and (f).

(3) Notwithstanding the provisions of sub-article (1), if a

person participates in the preparation of an assessment without

being registered in the Register, he shall subsequently be barred

from registering or participating in any assessments in Malta for a

period to be decided by the Registration Board which period shall

in no case be less than three years.

Requirement of Permission

(1) Subject to the provisions of this article and to the

following provisions of this Part of the Act, and subject to articles

55 and 85(2)(n), no development shall be carried out except with

development permission.

(2) For the purposes of this article, and, unless the context

otherwise requires, for all other purposes in this Act,

"development" means the carrying out of building, engineering,

quarrying, mining or other operations for the construction,

demolition or alterations in, on, over, or under any land or the sea,

the placing of advertisements or the making of any material change

in use of land or building and sea, other than

(a) maintenance operations which affect only the interior

of a building or which do not materially affect the

external appearance of the building

Provided that such maintenance works are not contrary

to any order made under this Act in relation to the

building

Provided further that maintenance operations shall not

include demolition and rebuilding works, irrespective

of the location where such demolition and rebuilding

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works are carried out;

(b)

the use of land for agriculture, animal husbandry and

forestry (including afforestation), except where such

use consists of

(i) the erection of buildings or amounts to intensive

raising of crops or animals; or

(ii) the reclamation of land for agriculture by the

deposit of material on such land unless such

reclamation of land for agriculture can be proven

to have subsisted prior to 1994;

(c)

in the case of buildings or other land that are used for a

purpose of any class specified in an order made by the

Minister, as the case may be, under this Act, the use

thereof for any other purpose of the same class;

(d)

emergency works in relation to public safety carried

out by Government;

(e)

a use which subsisted continuously from a period

when such use was not considered illegal and did not

require a permit;

(f)

the placing of plant and machinery required for the

operation of a use already covered by development

permission on land within the perimeter of the site

covered by the same permission of the use being

operated.

(3)

For the purpose of this article -

(a) the use of a building resulting in an increase in the

number of dwelling units in which the building was

previously used; or

(b) the deposit of materials on land; or

(c) the use for the display of advertisements on any

external part of a building that is not normally used for

that purpose,

involves a material change in the use of that building or land, or

part thereof, without prejudice, in the case of advertisements, to

any regulations or order made under this Act with respect to their

(4) For the purpose of this article, development includes

clearing of valleys from accumulated sediment and development in

relation to the sea includes land reclamation from the sea,

aquaculture and beach developments and their related uses.

(1) Any person, including a department of government or

a body corporate established by law, wishing to carry out any

development referred to in article 70, shall apply to the Planning

Board for such permission, in such manner, on such form and

giving such information as the Planning Board may prescribe.

(2) The Planning Board may grant three types of development

permissions

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(a) an outline development permission which gives

approval in principle to the proposed development, but

specifies reserved matters which need to be included

in a full development permit application or

applications. A period of time shall be stated within

which the full development permit application or

applications shall be submitted, failure of which would

render the outline development permit null. Such

period shall in no case exceed five years. No

development may commence without a full

development permit;

(b) a full development permission is required before any

development can commence, whether or not preceded

by an outline development permission. The full

development permission will be given subject to

conditions included in the permission;

(c) a non-executable full development permission which

approves the development but imposes conditions to

be adhered to before a full development permission is

issued.

(3) Any person may also apply to the Planning Board for a

determination as to whether a proposal requires a development

permission and the Planning Board is bound to inform that person

whether a development permission or any other form of notification

is required in terms of this Act or not.

(4) An applicant for development permission shall declare to

the Authority that

(i)

he is the owner of the site or that he has notified the

owner of his intention to apply by registered letter of

which a copy has been received by the Authority and that

the owner has granted his consent to submit an application;

or

(ii) he is authorised to carry out such proposed development

under any other law or through an agreement with the

owner.

(5)

Where

(i)

the applicant is the Government of Malta, or any

department, agency, authority or other body corporate

wholly owned by the Government; or

(ii) the applicant is not the owner of the site, but he holds

the site under title of agricultural lease, or holds the

premises under a title of lease and he is carrying out

the works under a scheme of a Government entity,

the applicant must still notify the owner of his intention to apply by

registered letter of which a copy has been received by the

Authority, but need not certify that the owner has granted his

consent to such a proposal.

(6) Any person may declare an interest in a development and,

on the basis of issues relevant to environment and planning, make

representations on the development. Such declaration of interest

DEVELOPMENT PLANNING

and representations shall be in writing and is to be received by the

Planning Board within such period as established by regulations

prescribed by the Minister. A declaration that is not submitted

within this stipulated period shall be considered null and may not

be considered by the Planning Board.

(7) During the processing of the application, the Executive

Chairperson shall consider representations made by registered

interested parties in accordance with the provisions of sub-article

(6).

(8) The Planning Board shall inform the registered interested

parties where fresh drawings have been filed and the registered

interested parties shall be notified of the Planning Board’s sitting

when such application shall be discussed

Provided that such submissions may be made in any format

deemed appropriate by the Planning Board, and shall include

submissions received by post or by hand and electronic

submissions

Provided further that if the last day for submissions as set

out by the Planning Board is a public holiday or a day when the

offices of the Authority are closed to the public, the time limit for

such submissions shall be deemed to expire on the next following

working day.

(1) The Planning Board shall have the power to grant or to

refuse a development permission. Any development permission

approved shall be without prejudice to third party rights and shall

not in any manner constitute or be construed as a guarantee in

favour of the applicant as to the title to the property. Moreover in

the granting of a development permission, the Planning Board shall

be entitled to impose such conditions which it may deem

appropriate

Provided that the Planning Board shall give specific

reasons for any refusal or for any particular conditions that may

have been imposed.

(2) In its determination upon an application for development

permission, the Planning Board shall have regard to

(a) plans;

(b) policies

Provided that subsidiary plans and policies shall not be

applied retroactively so as to adversely affect vested

rights arising from a valid development permission, or

a valid police or trading licence issued prior to 1994;

(c) regulations made under this Act

Provided that the Planning Board shall only refer to

plans, policies or regulations that have been finalised

and approved by the Minister or the House of

Representatives, as the case may be, and published;

(d) any

other

material

consideration,

including

surrounding legal commitments, environmental,

DEVELOPMENT PLANNING

aesthetic and sanitary considerations, which the

Planning Board may deem relevant;

(e) representations made in response to the publication of

the development proposal; and

(f) representations and recommendations made by boards,

committees and consultees in response to notifications

of applications.

(3) Saving development which in the opinion of the Minister is

of strategic significance or of national interest, related to any

obligation ensuing from a European Union Act, affects national

security or affects the interests of other governments but not

subject to an Environmental Impact Assessment and, or IPPC

matters, the execution and validity of a permit shall be

automatically temporarily suspended and no works as approved by

the said development permit may commence before the lapse of the

time periods established in article 13 of the Environment and

Planning Review Tribunal Act and subsequently will remain so

suspended if the Tribunal so decides in accordance with the

Environment and Planning Review Tribunal Act.

(4) A development permission may be granted for a limited

period but shall cease to be operative if the activity or development

has not been completed within the period specified in the

development permission, if any

Provided that the Planning Board shall, on the application

of the person holding the full development permission, renew the

said permission on receiving a valid renewal application while the

previous development permission is still operative, to such further

period or periods as it may consider reasonable

Provided further that where there has been a change in

plans or policies applicable to the requested renewal development

permission, these new plans and policies shall be taken into

account unless the site subject to the application is already

committed by the original development permission in relation to

these plans and policies

Provided futher that if the applicant fails to submit the

commencement notice relative to the permission, such development

permission shall be considered as never having been utilised.

(5) Any permission still in force shall automatically pass on to

the new owners of the development.

(6) In granting a development permission, the Planning Board

may require the applicant to carry out the activity or development

in stages. The Planning Board shall inform the applicant in the

permission which are the said stages and, following the completion

of each stage, the applicant shall request the Planning Board to

carry out an inspection of the activity or works carried out, and if,

following such an inspection, it is found that the activity or works

have been carried out in terms of the development permission, the

Planning Board shall authorise the applicant to carry out the next

stage of the activity or development.

(7)

Where the Planning Board considers it appropriate to

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closely monitor specific conditions in a development permission by

appointing a person competent for the said purpose, it shall do so at

the expense of the applicant.

(8) Without prejudice to the provisions of this article, where an

application to develop land consists in the mining of minerals, the

Planning Board may and, where planning and environmental

standards so require, shall, require the applicant to provide a

scheme for the treatment of the working and surrounding areas

during the working period and for the treatment of the said areas

when working is completed.

(9) The Planning Board shall not grant permission for the

mining of minerals unless i t is satisfied t hat planning and

environmental standards will be met and that the site will be kept

and eventually left in acceptable conditions.

(10) Where the Planning Board has required a scheme to be

submitted for the various stages as provided in sub-article (6), the

scheme, as accepted by the Planning Board, shall be made a

condition of any permission granted by it, and the Planning Board

shall further require such guarantees to be given by the applicant as

it deems necessary to ensure that the scheme will be adhered to.

(1) In any case in which the Planning Board may under

this Act grant permission to develop land, it may grant permission

for the retention on land of any buildings or works constructed or

carried out thereon, or for the continuance of any use of land,

without permission under this Act or after such permission has

ceased to be valid or operative, and references in this Act to

permission to develop land or carry out any development on land,

and to applications for such permission, shall be construed

accordingly

Provided that any application or permission under this sub-

article shall not be processed or granted unless the applicant or his

predecessor in title has

(a) forthwith upon being required so to do, ceased to carry

out any development he was required to interrupt; and

(b) paid such fines or made such other payments as may

be due on the site subject of the application.

(2) A permission under this article may be granted so as to take

effect from the date on which the buildings or works were

constructed or carried out or the use was commenced, or from the

date the development permission ceased to be valid or operative, as

the case may be.

(3) A development permission must specify the purposes for

which a building may be used and if no purpose is specified, the

permission shall be construed as including permission to use the

building for the purpose for which it is designed.

(4) Where a development permission is given for a limited

period only, and a condition to this effect is included in the permit,

nothing in this Act shall be construed as requiring permission to be

obtained thereunder for the resumption, at the expiration of that

DEVELOPMENT PLANNING

period, of the use of the land for the purpose for which it was

normally used before the permission was granted, but no account

shall be taken of any use made in contravention of this Act.

(5) The Planning Board may, prior to the issue of, or in issuing

a development permission, demand from the person in whose

favour the permission will be issued, as a condition for the issue of

the development permission, to provide a bond in favour of the

Authority in order to guarantee compliance with the conditions of

the permission once issued, or in order to guarantee payment in

respect of damages which may be caused to the environment or to

the infrastructure. The Planning Board may, after the issue of a

development permission, if the development or activity is not being

carried out in accordance with the permission, or is otherwise

causing damage to the environment or the infrastructure, demand

the said person in whose favour the permission has been issued, as

a condition for the continuance of the development permission, to

provide a bond in favour of the Authority in order to guarantee

compliance with the conditions of the permission, or in order to

guarantee payment in respect of damages which may be caused to

the environment or to the infrastructure

Provided that nothing in this sub-article shall be interpreted

as authorising the Planning Board to demand a bond in an amount

not commensurate with the nature of the development project or

activity

Provided further that such a bond may only be forfeited in

favour of the Authority if there is clear evidence that the applicant

has not complied with the conditions of the development

permission and the reasons for forfeiting the bond shall be

communicated in writing to the applicant.

(1) Decisions on applications shall be taken without delay.

(2) The Minister may make regulations to give better effect to

the provisions of this article and, without prejudice to the

generality of the foregoing, he may

(a) establish the procedures to be used by the Planning

Board and the applicant in the processing and

determination of applications;

(b) establish the procedures to be used by an applicant

prior to the submission of an application;

(c) establish time limits within which submissions have to

be made and decisions have to be taken and

communicated.

The Planning Board shall not delegate to the Commission

or to any other body or person, the determination of the following

applications

(a) applications in respect of an activity or development of

a national or strategic significance or affecting matters

of national security or other national interests;

(b) applications in respect of an activity or development

which could affect the interests of other governments;

DEVELOPMENT PLANNING

(c) applications in respect of development which is

subject to an environmental impact statement;

(d) requests for reconsideration where the decision to be

reconsidered was taken by the Planning Board itself.

(1) If an applicant considers that conditions imposed upon

a development permission are unreasonable, he may, without

prejudice to his right of appeal, request the Planning Board or the

Commission, as the case may be, to reconsider such conditions.

(2) A request for a reconsideration shall be made within thirty

days from notification of the decision of the Planning Board or of

the Commission, as the case may be, and may not be made

concurrently with an appeal. The request for a reconsideration shall

include a written document containing the reasons for such a

request.

(3) The Planning Board or the Commission shall inform the

registered interested parties where a request for a reconsideration

has been filed and the registered interested parties shall be notified

of the Planning Board’s or the Commission’s sitting when such a

request for a reconsideration shall be discussed.

(4) No reconsideration may be demanded by a registered

interested party, even if such interested party has made written

objections in accordance with the provisions of article 71(6).

(1) If an applicant considers that the conditions imposed

upon a full development permission or outline development

permission, or a refusal of such a permission, or any other decision,

is unreasonable, he may lodge an appeal with the Tribunal

according to the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal Act.

(2) Where a request for reconsideration has been made, and the

Planning Board or the Commission revises its decision, an appeal

from such a reconsidered decision may be made by the applicant,

registered interested third parties and external consultees to the

Tribunal in accordance with the Environment and Planning Review

Tribunal Act.

(3) Other parties indicated in the Environment and Planning

Review Tribunal Act may lodge an appeal from a decision of the

Planning Board or of the Commission with the Tribunal according

to the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal Act.

(4)

Repealed by Act XXI.2022.10.

(1) Where an appeal is lodged by an applicant or by a

registered interested third party, or by any external consultee from

any decision of the Planning Board or the Commission relative to

the instances referred to in sub-article (2), the secretary of the

Tribunal shall inform the Minister of such an appeal within fifteen

days from its receipt. In such case, the Minister may, within fifteen

days from the date when he has received such information, either

instruct the Tribunal to proceed with the determination of the

appeal or decide to refer the appeal to the Cabinet of Ministers for

determination. Where the Minister does not decide to refer such an

DEVELOPMENT PLANNING

appeal to the Cabinet of Ministers as aforesaid within the said

period, it shall be deemed for all purposes and effects of law that he

has opted to refer the said appeal to the Tribunal for its decision.

(2) The Minister may refer to the Cabinet of Ministers any

appeal called in by him in terms of sub-article (1), where such an

appeal relates to decisions in respect of

(a) a development which appears to him to be of a

strategic significance;

(b) a development which appears to him to affect matters

of national security or national interests;

(c) a development which appears to him likely to affect

the interests of the Government of Malta or other

governments;

(d) a development which is subject to an environmental

impact assessment and which in the Minister’s opinion

is of national interest;

(e) a development where the applicant is a department of

Government or a body corporate established by law.

(3) Where the Minister decides to refer to the Cabinet of

Ministers an appeal referred to him, he shall request the Tribunal to

draw up its recommendation on that appeal after having heard the

parties and the Tribunal shall send its recommendation on that

particular appeal to the Minister who shall refer it to the Cabinet of

Ministers. Such recommendation shall be available to the public.

(4) The Cabinet Secretary shall, within fifteen days from the

date of such decision, communicate the decision of the Cabinet of

Ministers to the Planning Board and the Commission together with

the reasons in justification thereof and the Planning Board shall

comply therewith, publish the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers

in such manner as it may deem fit or as may be prescribed and shall

communicate the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers to the parties

within fifteen days from the receipt of such decision.

(5) A decision by the Cabinet of Ministers pursuant to this

article which relates to a development or an installation which is

subject to an environmental impact assessment and, or an IPPC

permit, may, upon an application by the appellant or by an

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

organisation having as one of its purposes the promotion of

environmental protection and is registered under the Voluntary

Organisations Act, be subject to appeal on matters of substantive

and procedural legality to the Court of Appeal in its superior

jurisdiction. An appeal in terms of this sub-article shall be made by

an application to be filed within ten days from the date of

communication of the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers to the

parties. The appeal proceedings shall be concluded by the Court of

Appeal within four months from the filing of the appeal before it

and shall not be prohibitively expensive. Legal and judicial costs

and fees in the said proceedings shall be taxed in accordance with

paragraph (7) of item 3 of Tariff A and with paragraph (b) of item

15 of Tariff E in Schedule A to the Code of Organization and Civil

Procedure.

DEVELOPMENT PLANNING

(6) The execution of any development or the operation of any

installation which is subject to an environmental impact assessment

and, or an IPPC permit, and which is pending a decision by the

Cabinet of Ministers in terms of this article shall be suspended until

the decision of the Cabinet is taken.

(7) Where a decision of the Cabinet of Ministers is subject to

an appeal in accordance with sub-article (5), the Court of Appeal

may, upon a request of the appellant or of an interested party, which

may include a non-governmental organisation having as one of its

purposes the promotion of environmental protections and which is

registered under the Voluntary Organisations Act, order that the

execution of the development or the operation of the installation be

suspended whilst proceedings before the said Court are pending.

(1) A planning obligation may be entered into in those

cases where the Planning Board, in connection with a grant of a

development permission, seeks to impose on the applicant an

obligation

(a) to carry out an activity or works

(i) on the land in respect of which development

permission is sought, or

(ii) on any other land or area, or

(iii) on the land or area mentioned in both sub-

paragraphs (i) and (ii); or

(b) to make some payment or confer some extraneous

right or benefit, where the Planning Board considers it

to be more appropriate. The Planning Board shall seek

to obtain these benefits or gains by means of

conditions attached to a grant of the development

permission, or by means of a planning obligation

entered into by a public deed.

(2) Any person may, by agreement with the Planning Board,

enter into a planning obligation

(a) restricting the development or use of that land in any

specified way;

(b) requiring specified operations or activities to be

carried out, in, on, under or over that land or area;

(c) requiring that land or area to be used in any specified

way; or

(d) requiring a sum or sums to be paid to the Authority on

a specified date or dates or periodically.

(3) The Minister may make regulations for giving better effect

to the provisions of this article and may, without prejudice to the

generality of the foregoing

(a) prescribe the procedure how a planning obligation may

be entered into, enforced, modified and discharged;

(b) establish any restrictions, conditions or the payment of

any sums of money which may be imposed in such

planning obligations.

DEVELOPMENT PLANNING

(4) The applicant and any person interested in the land may

appeal to the Tribunal from a planning obligation entered into in

terms of sub-article (1).

Revocation or Modification of Permission

(1) The Planning Board may, only in

(a) the cases of fraud; or

(b) the submission of any information, declaration or plan

which is incorrect or does not reflect the situation on

site; or

(c) where there is an error on the face of the record; or

(d) where public safety is concerned,

by a decision revoke or modify any development permission

granted under this Act, including any clearance issued by the

Planning Board under an Order, stating in such decision its reasons

for so doing and indicating in a clear manner the legal basis for the

revocation.

Upon any such request made by any person to revoke or

modify a permission in terms of this Act, or out of its own motion,

the Executive Chairperson must prepare his recommendations to

the Planning Board as to whether the development permission

should be revoked or modified and invite both the applicant and the

person making the request, if any, to make written submissions.

The Planning Board shall communicate the date and time of

its hearing to the applicant and to the interested person making the

request under this article, if any. During such hearing the Planning

Board shall also hear the said applicant’s submissions, if the latter

opts to attend, the interested person’s submissions, if any, and any

other person’s submissions

Provided that the Executive Chairperson may in relation to

any development permission, including any clearance issued under

an Order after the date of coming into force of this Act, commence

proceedings to revoke or modify any such development permission,

including any clearance issued by the Planning Board under an

O r d e r, w i t h i n f i v e y e a r s f r o m t h e d a t e o f i s s u i n g o f t h e

development permission, including any clearance issued under an

Order.

(2)

For the purposes of sub-article (1)

"fraud" means the submission to the Planning Board of any

information, declaration or plan on the basis of which the Planning

Board has approved a development permission, where such

information, declaration or plan is false;

"incorrect information, declaration or plan" means the

submission to the Planning Board of any information, declaration

or plan on the basis of which the Planning Board has approved a

development permission, where such information, declaration or

plan does not reflect the situation on site or is erroneous or

DEVELOPMENT PLANNING

mistaken;

"error on the face of the record" means an error made by the

Planning Board in reaching a decision and such error is apparent

from the records of its proceedings

Provided that the Planning Board shall not revoke or

modify a development permission on the basis of fraud or incorrect

information, declaration or plan or error on the face of the record,

where such circumstance did not have a material bearing on the

issuing of the development permission in such a manner that had

the correct information been available at the time of the decision

the outcome would not have been different.

(3) The applicant, or the interested person making a request

under this article shall, if he feels aggrieved by the decision taken

by the Planning Board, have a right to appeal the Planning Board’s

decision to the Tribunal within thirty days from the date of the

hearing when the decision was taken.

(4) No compensation may be demanded from the Authority

when it acts under the provisions of sub-article (1) where the

reason for the revocation or a modification of a development

permission is based on fraud, incorrect information, declaration or

plan, or error on the face of the record or for considerations of

public safety.

Charges and Contributions

(1) The Authority shall have power to levy a charge in

respect of any permission to carry out development, to be known as

the Development Permission Fee, including any application

therefor, in accordance with a schedule of charges established by it

with the concurrence of the Minister and of the Minister

responsible for finance, taking account of the nature of the

development, the timing of the development in relation to the

planned phasing thereof, of the conditions attaching to the

permission and of any other relevant consideration.

(2) The Authority shall have power to levy a contribution

towards the cost of the infrastructure services and other services or

facilities arising from any permission to develop land, to be known

as the Infrastructure Service Contribution, from the person

applying for such permission or carrying out such development, in

accordance with such rates a s the Authority may, with t he

concurrence of the Minister and of the Minister responsible for

finance, from time to time determine, taking account of the services

involved, the areas of development and other material

considerations.

(3) The sums collected by the Authority under sub-article (2)

shall be paid to the Government each year after a deduction

therefrom is made to cover the reasonable costs incurred in the

determination and levying of the contribution, as prescribed by

regulations.

(4) The Authority shall have power to levy a charge in respect

of any other application made to it.

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(5) The schedule of charges and the rates of contributions

established under this article, as from time to time in force, shall be

published as regulations and shall have effect as so published.

(6) The charges and contributions levied under sub-articles (1)

and (2) aforesaid shall be collectively known as the "development

levy".

No development permission shall be processed and no

activity or development authorised by an order shall be carried out,

unless and until any fee or contribution payable under article 81 has

been paid to and received by the Authority, and any activity or

works carried out without such payment having been made and

received shall be deemed to be an activity or development carried

out without the permission of the Authority.

PART VIII

Power to make Regulations

General

Without prejudice to the provisions of article 6 of the

Interpretation Act, any power conferred by this Act to make

regulations, rules, orders, lists, schedules and any other instrument

of like nature, includes the power from time to time to revoke,

replace, amend, alter or add to any such instrument as aforesaid.

(1) Regulations under this Act shall be made by the

Minister after consultation with the Authority, and except for

regulations under article 85(2)(a), (b) and (m) and in the cases

referred to in sub-article (2) hereof, shall not be made unless a draft

of the said regulations has been issued for public consultation

thereby allowing any person a period of at least two weeks to make

representations to the Minister stating how in his opinion the

proposed regulations could be improved to reach their ultimate aim.

(2) The provisions of sub-article (1) with regard to the

publication of a draft of the regulations for public consultation

shall not apply in respect of any regulations which the Minister

declares to be urgent or when a form of public consultation was

already carried out before the date of coming into force of this Act.

(3) When the Minister makes regulations concerning the

procedure before the Executive Council or any board, commission

or other body established under this Act, he shall also consult the

Executive Council or such board, commission or body.

Planning and Development Regulations

(1) The Minister may, acting in accordance with the

provisions of article 84, make regulations for the better carrying

out of the provisions of this Act and may in particular by such

regulations appoint the Authority or any person or body to be the

designated authority for the purposes of any international

obligation to which Malta may be a party.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the provisions of sub-

article (1), such regulations may, in particular

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(a) prescribe the charges and fees that may be levied by

the Authority for services rendered by it under this

Act, or in respect of any matter for which it is

considered that a fee should be payable;

(b) provide for the procedure to be applied by the

Authority and the applicant before and after the

submission of an application under this Act, as well as

fees chargeable therefor, as well as the procedures to

be used by the applicant and the Authority in the

processing of the said application, including, but not

limited to, the advertising, communication and vetting

of the said application, and the general conditions

under which the Authority may require the giving of

financial guarantees or the provision of assurance to

make good for any damage that may be caused;

(c) 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;

(d) give effect to any international treaty or instrument,

including directives, regulations and decisions,

relating to any matter governed by this Act to which

Malta may from time to time be a party or subject to,

and to set up structures and make other provisions for

the implementation thereof;

(e) provide for any matter relating to planning and

development and sanitary or other activities affecting

land or sea, including policy requirements relating to

construction, demolition and alteration works, as well

as any other matter relating thereto, taking account of

all relevant considerations, including safety,

aesthetics, health and environment;

(f) prescribe the manner in which Development

Permission Fees or other charges, contributions or fees

made under this Act or under regulations made under

this Act are to be established, made, reviewed,

collected, utilised or otherwise dealt with;

(g) in relation to confiscation of objects used for, or in

connection with anything contrary to the provisions of

this Act or any regulations issued thereunder and

related matters

(i) establish the circumstances where such objects

can be confiscated and establish the relative

procedure for their confiscation and disposal;

(ii) authorise and regulate clamping, towing,

removal and storage by the Authority of any

object used for or in connection with anything

contrary to the provisions of this Act or any

regulation issued thereunder;

(iii) exclude the Authority from any liability, other

DEVELOPMENT PLANNING

than liability for gross negligence, incurred in

connection with the execution of its duties under

the said regulations;

(iv) provide for the disposal of such objects when the

said objects are not claimed by their owners

within such time as may be prescribed;

(v) establish fees payable to the Authority for the

removal of clamps, for towing, for the storage of

such objects and for the auction or other form of

disposal of such objects;

(vi) establish offences and the relative punishments

in relation to matters referred to in sub-

paragraphs (i) to (v);

(h) specify the type of illegal activity the provisions of

articles 101 and 103 shall apply to and establish the

relative penalty;

(i) amend, substitute, add to or otherwise alter anything

contained in the Schedules to this Act;

(j) prescribe regulations for any other purpose for which

regulations are authorised or required to be made;

(k) prescribe the form of any notice, order or other

document authorised or required by this Act to be

made, served or given;

(l) regulate how any notice or communication to or from

the Authority which in terms of this Act shall be in

writing, may be made in electronic form;

(m) provide that any person who acts in contravention of

any regulation under this Act shall be guilty of an

offence against this article, and establishing such

penalty, being a penalty not greater than a fine (multa)

of two hundred and forty thousand euro (€240,000) or

to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or

to both such fine and imprisonment, to which any

person so guilty may be liable

Provided that such regulations may provide that a

person, who, having been sentenced for an offence

against the same regulation by a judgement which has

become absolute, commits a further offence against the

same regulation within such time as may be

prescribed, shall be liable to pay a higher fine (multa),

not exceeding double the fine (multa) which would

otherwise have been inflicted, and for the purpose of

this proviso the maximum fine that may be established

by such regulations shall be four hundred and eighty

thousand euro (€480,000)

Provided further that such fine shall in all cases be due

to the Government as a civil debt, and that where the

person guilty of the offence is a director, secretary or

manager of a body corporate for the economic benefit

of whom the offence was committed, such body

corporate shall be liable in solidum with the offender

DEVELOPMENT PLANNING

for the payment of the said civil debt;

(n) prescribe any other matter that is to be or may be

prescribed under this Act.

(3) Notwithstanding the other provisions of this Act or of any

other law, Schedules annexed to regulations made under this Act

may be made or published in the English language only.

Repealed by Act XXI.2022.11.

Repealed by Act XXI.2022.12.

Repealed by Act XXI.2022.13.

Repealed by Act XXI.2022.14.

Repealed by Act XXI.2022.15.

Repealed by Act XXI.2022.16.

Repealed by Act XXI.2022.17.

Amendment of the Code of Police Laws

(1) The Minister may, without prejudice to the provisions

of sub-article (2), by regulations amend, substitute or repeal any of

the provisions of Part V of the Code of Police Laws, with effect

from such date as the Minister may, by order in the Gazette,

establish.

(2) The Minister may by regulations made under this sub-

article provide for transitory provisions.

PART IX

Monitoring and Enforcement

(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law, for

the purposes of carrying out their functions under this Act, the

Executive Council and such officer, employee or committee or any

other person as may be authorised by the Executive Council or the

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Executive Chairperson for this purpose, and if so required by the

Executive Council with the assistance of the Police Force, shall

have

(a) the right to enter any premises, public or private, at all

reasonable times, and in the case of a dwelling house

after giving previous reasonable notice of at least

twenty-four hours and not before seven o’clock in the

morning or later than seven o’clock in the evening, and

inspect or survey any land, or verify whether an illegal

development or activity is taking or has taken place or

to take any photographs after entering or request any

legitimate information from any occupier of such

premises; 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 and

thereon be authorised to enter the land.

(1) The Executive Council shall monitor all activities

falling within the scope of this Act, including all development

operations to ensure that all such activities and development are

carried out only in accordance with the requirements of this Act

and in compliance with the decisions lawfully taken under this Act

and may for such purpose request and obtain the assistance of the

Police Force, any local council, any department of Government or

any agency of Government.

(2) The Executive Council shall also undertake a review of all

such activities and development carried out before the coming into

force of this Act, or any other Act preceding this Act, not being

development carried out before 1967, not in compliance with rules,

regulations, plans or policies in force at the time the activity or

development took place, and in respect of any such activity or

development the Executive Council shall have such powers as it

has in respect of an activity or development carried out after the

coming into force of this Act in order to ensure that the rules,

regulations, plans and policies aforesaid are enforced or, if this is

not reasonably possible, to regularise any such activity or

development to the extent the Executive Council deems adequate in

the circumstances

Provided that the onus of proof that a development or

activity is not in compliance with rules, regulations, plans or

policies in force at the time the activity or development took place

is on the Executive Council.

(3) The Executive Council shall also monitor all activities

falling within the scope of this Act, to ensure that all such activities

are carried out in accordance with licences, permits, certificates

issued by the Authority concurrently with the planning decision.

(1) The Executive Council may appoint officers for the

purposes of this Act, and such officers may, upon production of

proof of their identity, in order to ensure compliance with this Act

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or any regulations made thereunder

(a) enquire from any person information in connection

with any activity or other matter regulated by this Act;

(b) issue stop notices or enforcement notices or stop and

enforcement notices or warning notices to any person

in accordance with the provisions of article 97.

(2) The provisions of sub-article (1) shall be without prejudice

to the powers of the Police, Community Officers, the Comptroller

of Customs or of any other authority under the Criminal Code, the

Customs Ordinance or any other law.

(3) Officers appointed under this article shall, notwithstanding

any other law, have the right to assist the police in the conduct of

prosecution for offences under this Act and to plead the case on

behalf of the prosecution.

(1) If it appears to the Executive Council that an activity

and, or development is being carried out without the grant of a

permission and, or licence required under this Act or that any

conditions subject to which such permission was granted in respect

of any such activity and, or development are not being complied

with or such activity and, or development is against this Act or

regulations made under this Act, the Executive Council shall issue

a stop notice to any such person carrying out such an activity and,

or development

Provided that when the illegal activity and, or development

is limited to part of the site, the Authority may in its discretion

issue a partial stop notice requiring the activity and, or

development to be stopped forthwith only in relation to that part of

the activity and, or development to where the illegal development

subsists and not in relation to the whole development

Provided further that no such notice shall be issued for any

development carried out before 1967

Provided further that the Executive Council may issue a

warning notice in writing requiring illegal activity and, or

development to be stopped forthwith prior to proceeding with the

issue of a stop notice, which has to be abided with immediately on

notification, provided that only one warning notice may be issued

for the same infringement.

(2) A copy of the notices mentioned in sub-article (1) may also

be served on any representative, builder, contractor or workman on

the site and the Executive Council shall also affix such notices in a

prominent position at a point of entry onto the site.

(3) The Executive Council shall, in the case of a stop notice

issued under sub-article (1), also inform

(a) the local council in whose locality the land mentioned

in sub-article (1) is found;

(b) the perit responsible for the said works and the site

manager, if known, that a stop notice as aforesaid has

been issued by the Executive Council

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Provided that the non-compliance with the provisions of

this sub-article shall in no case invalidate any notice issued under

sub-article (1).

(4) If it appears to the Executive Council that any activity and,

or development of land has been carried out after the coming into

force of this Act without the grant of permission required on that

behalf under this Act, or that any conditions subject to which such

permission was granted in respect of any activity and, or

development have not been complied with, the Executive Council

may, having regard to the provisions of development plans,

planning policies and any other material consideration, serve on the

owner of the land or on the occupier of the land or on the person

responsible for the acts mentioned in the notice or any combination

thereof as the Executive Council deems most expedient, an

enforcement notice and sub-article (3) shall also here apply,

requiring such steps as may be specified in the notice to be taken

within such time as may also be so specified for restoring the land

to its condition before the activity and, or development took place

or for removing such development or for securing compliance with

the conditions aforesaid, as the case may be, and in particular, but

without prejudice to the generality of the aforesaid any such notice

may, for the purpose aforesaid, require the demolition or alteration

of any buildings or works, the discontinuance of any use of land, or

the carrying out on the land of any building or other operations

Provided that where the Executive Chairperson believes

that there is an imminent danger to the environment, an emergency

enforcement notice may be served on the above indicated persons

without the need of consulting the other members of the Executive

Council

Provided further that an appeal from an emergency

enforcement notice or the submission of an application for the

retention on land of any buildings, works or development or to

sanction the continuance of any use of the land to which the

emergency enforcement notice relates shall not stay the operation

of the emergency enforcement notice.

(5) The Executive Council shall register all stop notices and all

other enforcement notices issued in terms of this Act in the index

mentioned in article 57(2), and the provisions of the said article

concerning indexing of conservation orders shall mutatis mutandis

apply to stop and other enforcement notices in terms of this Act.

(6) Any notice made under this article shall contain a detailed

description of the infringements being alleged and where

applicable, a site plan indicating the land which is the subject of

such a notice shall be annexed thereto together with any additional

information as deemed appropriate by the Executive Council to

clearly identify the alleged infringements.

(7) A notice under this article may include a combination of a

stop notice and enforcement notice and shall be known as a stop

and enforcement notice. Moreover a notice given under any of the

provisions of this article, other than the immediate request stopping

or prohibiting any further work or development or requiring the

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cessation of use, shall take effect at the expiration of such period,

being not less than fifteen days and not more than sixty days after

service thereof, as may be specified therein.

(8) When an application for development permission has been

submitted before the expiry of the period mentioned in sub-article

(7) -

(a) for the retention on the land of any buildings, works or

development to which the enforcement notice relates;

or

(b) to sanction the continuance of any use of the land to

which the enforcement notice relates,

the operation of the notice, in respect of any requirement other than

a requirement stopping or prohibiting any further activity and, or

development or requiring the cessation of a use, shall be suspended

pending the final determination of the application. If the permission

applied for is granted on that application and it comes into

operation, the enforcement notice shall cease ipso jure to have

effect.

(9) Any application to regularise an activity or a development

or an appeal to the Tribunal from a refusal, may be dismissed

forthwith if a requirement in the notice stopping or prohibiting

further activity and, or development, or requiring the cessation of a

use, has not been complied with and there is evidence to show that

the notice has not been complied with during the processing of the

application or during the Tribunal sittings, or if any penalty or

other payment for which any person has become liable under this

Act in respect of the relevant activity or development has not been

paid.

(10) The Executive Council may exercise its powers under

article 100(1) notwithstanding that a second or subsequent

application intended to regularise the illegal activity or

development may have been filed with the Planning Board

concerning the same or part of the same activity or site, irrespective

of whether the said application is filed by the same applicant or by

another applicant.

(11) Any person who feels aggrieved by any notice served on

h i m m a y a p p e a l a g a i n s t i t t o t h e Tr i b u n a l i n t e r m s o f t h e

Environment and Planning Review Tribunal Act, in which case the

effects of the notice, other than the request stopping or prohibiting

any further activity and, or development or requiring the cessation

of a use, shall be suspended pending the final determination of the

appeal.

(1) If it appears to the Executive Council that anything

which is prohibited or restricted or subject to a condition by or

under any of the provisions of article 57 is being done or carried on

or has been done or carried on in contravention of any such

prohibition, restriction or condition or without any permission or

other requirement, or without compliance with any condition,

mentioned in those articles or any orders made thereunder, the

Executive Council shall serve a notice on the owner of the land or

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on the occupier of the land or on the person responsible for the acts

mentioned in the notice or any combination thereof, as the Executive

Council deems most expedient, requiring such steps as may be

specified in the notice, including the discontinuance of anything

being done or carried on, to be taken within such time as may also

be specified in the notice. The provisions of article 97(3) shall also

apply to any notice under this article.

(2) A notice under this article shall also be referred to as an

"enforcement notice" and, unless the context otherwise requires

and subject to such modifications and adaptations as may be

necessary to give full effect to the provisions of those articles,

wherever the expression appears in this Act, it shall include a

notice given under this article

Provided that no such notice shall be issued for any

development carried out before 1967.

(1) If it appears to the Executive Council that the amenity

of any area is injured by the appearance or structural condition of

any building or any land, being a garden, vacant site or other open

land, or by the appearance of a site upon which development or

construction or any other works are taking or have taken place, the

Executive Council may serve an enforcement notice on the owner

of the la nd or on t he occ upi er of the land or on the person

responsible for the acts mentioned in the notice or any combination

thereof, as the Executive Council deems most expedient, requiring

such steps to be taken for abating the injury as may be specified in

the notice. The provisions of article 97(3) shall also apply to any

notice under this article.

(2) The Minister may, in consultation with the Executive

Council, by regulations under this article provide that property

which is in a state of disrepair and, or constitutes a danger, shall be

demolished by its owner or by the Authority, at the owner ’s

expense, in accordance with the provisions of article 100. Without

prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, such regulations may

prescribe

(a) the manner through which the state of the property is

certified as constituting a danger,

(b) the methodology and procedures to be used by the

Authority in any action it may take as aforesaid.

(3) A notice under this article shall also be referred to as an

"enforcement notice" and unless the context otherwise requires and

subject to such modifications and adaptations as may be necessary

to give full effect to the provisions of those articles, wherever the

expression appears in this Act, it shall include a notice given under

this article. Such notices may also be issued for any development

carried out before 1967.

(1) If any steps or other action, including any

discontinuance, stoppage or similar requirement, required to be

taken by an enforcement notice have not been taken within the time

specified therein, the Executive Council may enter on the land or

the area at sea and take such steps or other action as aforesaid

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without any other formalities required by any other law, including

the disabling or removal of any equipment, machinery, tools,

belongings, vehicles or other objects that may be on site and the

carrying out of any works necessary to comply with what is

requested in the enforcement notice and may for such purpose

request the assistance of the Police Force, any local council, any

department of Government or any agency of Government, and the

Police Force and, or Armed Forces shall for such purpose exercise

such powers as are vested in them at law, on the demand of the

Executive Council for assistance.

(2) Where the removal of an illegal development involves by

strict necessity the removal also of a development which is not

illegal, the Executive Council may proceed to remove also such

other development, the removal of which is strictly necessary as

aforesaid.

(3) Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law and saving

the provisions of article 46 of the Constitution and article 4 of the

European Convention Act, no precautionary act may be issued by

any court against the Authority restraining it from the exercise of

the powers conferred upon it by this article.

(4) Subject to the provisions of, or regulations made under, this

Act, when an enforcement notice has not been appealed and the

owner or the occupier of the land subject to an enforcement notice

or any person responsible for the acts mentioned in the notice, fails

to comply with the said enforcement notice within the period

therein prescribed, such person shall be liable to a daily fine to be

regulated by regulations made by the Minister, not being more that

fifty euro (€50) per day which shall apply from the date that such

illegality mentioned in the notified enforcement notice continues.

When the notice has been appealed and the enforcement is

confirmed by the Tribunal or the Court of Appeal (Inferior

Jurisdiction), as the case may be, the daily fine for continuation of

illegality shall be calculated from the original date notified in the

enforcement notice

Provided that the Minister may by regulation prescribe

different dates from which daily fines shall be calculated.

(5) All expenses reasonably incurred by the Executive Council

in the exercise of its powers under this article, or any other amount

due to the Authority under any other provision of this Act or

regulations made thereunder 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 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, can dispose of the objects constituting the

illegality or illegalities, without any other formalities whatsoever if

the objects remain unclaimed within seven days.

(6)

Where the Authority desires to sue for the recovery of a

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debt due to the Authority under any law or regulation which it is

entitled to enforce, the Executive Chairperson or an officer of the

Authority duly authorised by the Executive Chairperson 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 name of the debtor and confirm that it is due.

(7) The declaration referred to in sub-article (6) shall be served

upon the debtor by means of a judicial act and it shall have the

same effect as a final judgement of the competent court unless the

debtor shall, within a period of twenty days from service upon him

of the said declaration, oppose the claim by filing an application

demanding that the court declares the claim unfounded.

(8) The application filed in terms of sub-article (7) shall be

served upon the Authority, which shall be entitled to file a reply

within a period of twenty days. The court shall appoint the

application for hearing on a date after the lapse of that period.

(9) Any debts due to the Authority shall be prescribed by the

lapse of the period of five years from the date on which the debt

was due.

(1) Notwithstanding the other provisions of this Act, any

person shall have the right to request the Authority to regularise

development which may be regularised by virtue of regulations

made by the Minister under this Act in accordance with and subject

to procedures established by the Authority.

(2) Notwithstanding the other provisions of this Act, any

person who is served with an enforcement notice in respect of

development which may be regularised by virtue of regulations

made by the Minister under this Act, shall have the right to request

the Authority to regularise such development in accordance with

and subject to procedures established by the Authority

Provided that the development in question shall not be

considered as having been regularised in terms of this Act unless

and until a development permission has been granted to cover the

development in question and a penalty fixed by the Authority

within the limits established in article 105 has been paid.

(3) Where any person claims to the Authority that an

enforcement notice falls within the provisions of sub-article (2),

and he requests the Authority to regularise such development and

the Authority does not accept such claim, the period mentioned in

article 97(7) shall commence to run from the date that the Authority

serves such person with a notice to the effect that it is not accepting

such claim.

(4) The Minister may, after consultation with the Authority,

make regulations to give better effect to the provisions of this

article.

(1) The following provisions shall have effect with

respect to any development which has taken place after the date of

the coming into force of the Development Planning Act, 1992,

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hereinafter referred to as "new development".

(2) No service consisting in the supply of water or electricity to

any new development shall be provided by any authority unless

there is in respect of such development a certificate issued by the

Authority or any other certificate as prescribed by regulations

stating that the development is in accordance with a development

permission or has been conceded or approved by the Authority in

terms of the Development Planning Act, 1992, the Environment

and Development Planning Act, or this Act or under any regulation

made therein. Any service for the supply of water and electricity

which was provided following the issue of a compliance certificate

which is subsequently revoked by the Authority due to

irregularities contained in such certificate, shall be suspended at the

request of the Authority.

(3) In any of the circumstances in which the Authority may

serve an enforcement notice under any of the provisions of this Act,

t h e M i n i s t e r s h a l l , i n c o n s u l t a t i o n w i t h t h e A u t h o r i t y, b y

regulations under this article, provide that such a notice is

registered with the Land Registry and served on the Director of the

Public Registry of Malta in the case of land situated in the Island of

Malta and on the Director of the Public Registry of Gozo in the

case of land situated in Gozo. Without prejudice to the generality of

the foregoing, such regulations may prescribe the procedures to be

used by the Authority in making such a registration.

PART X

Offences

(1) Any person who -

(a) carries out any development on any land or allows any

development to be carried out on land of which he is

an owner or occupier without a valid development

permission, or, if the development is carried out with a

development permission, fails to comply or to cause

compliance with any condition, restriction or other

limitation to which the permission is subject; or

(b) acts in contravention of any of the provisions of

articles 57 and 58 in respect of any scheduled property

or an emergency conservation order; or

(c) having been served with an enforcement notice or

other notice under articles 56, 97, 98 or 99 fails to

comply with any of the requirements of such notice

within the time therein specified; or

(d) 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

or army officer, or any public officer, or any employee

or servant of any department of Government or of any

agency of Government or of any local council, in the

execution of his duties under the law, or fails to

comply with any reasonable requirement demanded of

him by any such person as aforesaid or otherwise fails

to assist him in the carrying out of the said duties, or

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knowingly furnishes such person with false

information or neglects or refuses to give any

information required for the purpose aforesaid; or

(e) makes a declaration for any of the purposes of this Act

which is false, misleading or incorrect in any material

respect,

shall be guilty of an offence against this Act and shall be liable, on

conviction, to a fine (multa) of not less than one thousand five

hundred euro (€1,500) and not exceeding one hundred thousand

euro (€100,000), and in respect of an offence under paragraph (d)

or, in the case of an offence under paragraph (c), if the offender

persists in the offence for more than three months, also to

imprisonment for a term of not less than three months and not

exceeding three years

Provided that, and without prejudice to the provisions of

articles 57(9) and 100(4) and without prejudice to the maximum

fine above established, the minimum fine (multa) to which an

offender is liable under this article shall not be less than the value

of any work carried out without permission or in violation of any

conditions to which such permission was subject.

(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 a permission

or to comply with the conditions imposed in the permission, as the

case may be, within a time sufficient for the purpose, but in any

case not exceeding three months from the date of the judgement, to

be fixed by the court; and, if the offender fails to comply with any

such order within the time so fixed, he shall be liable to a fine

(multa) of not less than fifty euro (€50) and not more than one

hundred euro (€100), as the court may fix, for every day the default

continues after the expiration of the said time and may also order

the modification, suspension or revocation of any authorisation or

permission.

(3) Any person who is convicted of an offence under this

article may also, at the request of the prosecution, be disqualified

from signing and submitting to the Authority, for a period not

exceeding two years from the date of conviction for the offence,

certificates of compliance or fire safety certificates, or any other

certificate required in accordance with this Act or any other

regulations made thereunder and, accordingly, the Authority shall

not accept certificates for registration which are signed by a person

while so disqualified.

(4) 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 either in article 390(6) of the

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said Code or in any law for the time being in force.

(5) The filing of an application intended to regularise any

illegal development or activity to which a prosecution refers, and

the filing of an appeal against a refusal of such an application, shall

not be a bar to the continuation of such a prosecution and the court

shall continue to hear such a case and shall give judgement and

shall issue an order in terms of sub-article (2) as if such an

application or such an appeal had never been filed

Provided that where such an activity or development has

been regularised no fine (multa) under sub-article (2) shall be due

in respect of the time after the development has been regularised.

(6)

(a) Without prejudice to any other provisions of this Act,

or other provisions or regulations, made under this Act,

which the Authority is entitled to enforce, the

Authority shall have the power to impose in respect of

any person who infringes any provision of this Act or

of any regulations made thereunder, or who fails to

comply with any directive or decision given by the

Authority, whether under this Act, or regulations

prescribed thereunder, or under any other law which

the Authority is entitled to enforce, an administrative

fine using such procedures as established in this Act or

regulations made thereunder.

(b) An administrative fine imposed shall not, unless

provided otherwise by or under this Act, exceed two

hundred thousand euro (€200,000), and two thousand

euro (€2,000) each day, in the case where the

infringement persists

Provided that all the fines provided for in this article shall

be due to the Government as a civil debt and following the service

of a judicial act, in terms of article 466 of the Code of Organization

and Civil Procedure.

In any proceeding or prosecution under this Act, a copy of

any order, notice, decision or other document purporting to have

been made under this Act and purporting to have been signed by the

Executive Chairperson, shall be accepted as evidence of the order,

notice, decision or other document, and of the facts appearing

therein, without further proof.

(1) Notwithstanding any other law providing for the trial

and punishment of offences, where the Executive Council believes

that a person has committed an offence against this Act, other than

an offence under article 103(1)(d), the Executive Council may give

notice in writing to such person describing the offence of which the

person is accused, indicating the steps to be taken to remedy the

offence and a compromise fine which he is required to pay in

respect of that offence

Provided that the Executive Council may not require the

payment of a compromise fine higher than fifty thousand euro

(€50,000).

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(2) Where a notice under this article has been given, the person

named in the notice may, within sixty days of the service of the

notice, accept responsibility in writing for the offence specified in

the notice and within the same period, remedy the offence, and pay

or undertake in writing to pay the fine indicated in the notice or

such other compromise fine as the Executive Council may accept in

lieu, and in any such case

(a) the person named in the notice shall be deemed to have

committed the offence and to have admitted his guilt in

respect thereof, and the compromise fine paid, or

agreed to be paid, shall be the penalty to which he

becomes liable to pay;

(b) if the offence is remedied to the satisfaction of the

Executive Council and the compromise fine is paid

within the period, no further proceedings may be taken

against the said person in respect of the same facts

Provided that the agreement to pay the compromise

fine shall not extinguish any civil liability to make

good any damages to any person or authority and any

liability arising under article 103(2);

(c) if the compromise fine is not paid within the aforesaid

period, it shall be treated as if it were a penalty ordered

to be paid by a court and proceedings may be taken

accordingly to recover the same as a civil debt due to

the Authority.

(3) Where the person to whom notice is given under sub-article

(1) does not accept or, having accepted such responsibility, fails to

remedy the offence within the time aforesaid, and even if he has

paid the compromise fine, ordinary criminal proceedings may be

taken against him in accordance with the provisions of law

applicable to the offence.

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