MEMBERS OF THE JUDICIARY (PENSIONS) ACT (pensions)

JUDICIARY (PENSIONS)

CHAPTER 564

MEMBERS OF THE JUDICIARY (PENSIONS) ACT

To provide for pensions payable to members of the judiciary.

3rd October, 2016 *

ACT XLIV of 2016 .

The short title of this Act is the Members of the Judiciary

(Pensions) Act.

In this Act and in the regulations made thereunder -

"Attorney General" means the person appointed in accordance

with the provisions of Chapter VII of the Constitution of Malta,

whether serving or in retirement, and who is not entitled to a

pension under the Pensions Ordinance;

"legal representative" means testate or intestate heir of the

deceased member of the judiciary or of the deceased Attorney

General, as the case may be;

"member of the judiciary" means the Chief Justice, judges and

magistrates appointed in accordance with the provisions of Chapter

VIII of the Constitution of Malta, whether serving or in retirement,

and who are not entitled to a pension under the Pensions

Ordinance;

"month" means a calendar month;

''pensionable emoluments'' means

(i)

in the case of a member of the judiciary or the

Attorney General who has retired before the date of the

coming into force of this Act who, however, was not

entitled to a pension under the Pensions Ordinance, the

salary that would be payable to the holder of such office on

the date of the coming into force of this Act in accordance

with the Judges and Magistrates (Salaries) Act and the

President of Malta and other Officers (Salaries) Act

respectively; and

(ii)

in the case of a member of the judiciary or the

Attorney General who has retired after the coming into

force of this Act, the salary payable to him in accordance

with the Acts mentioned in paragraph (i) immediately

before his retirement;

"pensionable office" means the office of a member of the

judiciary or of the Attorney General, as the case may be;

''pensionable service'' in relation to a member of the judiciary or

Attorney General means service performed by the member of the

* see article 1(2) of this Act as originally enacted, and Legal Notice 335 of 2016.

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judiciary or Attorney General prior to his retirement

Provided that

(i)

service performed by a member of the judiciary prior

to his retirement in any court or tribunal of

international jurisdiction constituted by virtue of any

international or multilateral convention or treaty shall,

for the purposes of calculating length of service, also

be included as pensionable service except when that

service gives a right to the member of the judiciary to

a pension or other retirement benefit from an

institution outside Malta; and

(ii) in the case of a member of the judiciary and the

Attorney General service performed in the offices of

Chief Justice, judge, magistrate, Attorney General, and

as an advocate in the Office of the Attorney General,

irrespective of how the office is referred to, before

retirement shall qualify as pensionable service;

"public service" means service of a civil capacity under the

Government of Malta or such other service as the President of

Malta may determine to be public service for the purposes of any

provision of this Act or any regulations made thereunder;

"retirement" means the date when a serving member of the

judiciary vacates his office in accordance with the provisions of

Chapter VIII of the Constitution of Malta, or a person occupying

the post of Attorney General vacates his office in accordance with

the provisions of Chapter VII of the Constitution of Malta, as the

case may be, and includes the date when a serving member of the

judiciary or a person occupying the post of Attorney General, as the

case may be, resigns or is removed due to proved inability to

perform the functions of his office due to infirmity of body or mind

in accordance with the provisions of Chapter VIII of the

Constitution of Malta, or Chapter VII of the Constitution of Malta,

respectively;

''widow'' has the same meaning as given to it in article 2 of the

Social Security Act;

"year" means a calendar year.

(1) Without prejudice to article 113 of the Constitution of

Malta it shall be lawful for the President of Malta, from time to

time to make, and when made, to vary regulations for the granting

of pensions, gratuities and other allowances to Members of the

Judiciary and to the Attorney General.

(2) The said regulations and any regulations varying the same

as aforesaid, shall have the same force and effect for all purposes as

if they were contained in this Act, and the term "this Act" shall in

the following articles be read and construed accordingly.

(3) Whenever the President of Malta is satisfied that any

regulation made under this article should have retrospective effect

in order to confer a benefit, that regulation may be given

retrospective effect for that purpose.

JUDICIARY (PENSIONS)

(4) No regulation made under this article shall have effect

unless it has received the prior approval of the House of

Representatives signified by resolution.

(5) Any pension or gratuity granted under this Act shall be

computed in accordance with the provisions in force at the actual

date of retirement of a member of the judiciary or of the Attorney

General, as the case may be.

There shall be charged on and paid out of the Consolidated

Fund all such sums of money as may from time to time be granted

by the President of Malta by way of pension, gratuity or other

allowance in accordance with this Act.

A member of the judiciary, as well as the Attorney General,

shall have the right to a pension, gratuity, or allowance under this

Act or under any regulations made thereunder

Provided that a member of the judiciary or the Attorney

General, as the case may be, shall forfeit the right to a pension,

gratuity or allowance under this Act or under any regulations made

thereunder if he or she is removed from office in accordance with

the provisions of Chapter VIII or Chapter VII, respectively, of the

Constitution of Malta due to proved misbehaviour.

(1) A member of the judiciary or a person who formerly

occupied the post of Attorney General, who is retired on the date of

coming into force of this Act, shall be entitled to a pension, gratuity

or other allowance as prescribed by regulations made under this

Act.

(2) A member of the judiciary or the Attorney General, as the

case may be, who is in office on the date of coming into force of

this Act will be entitled on retirement to a pension, gratuity or other

allowance being granted by virtue of this Act.

A pension granted to a member of the judiciary or to the

Attorney General, as the case may be, under this Act shall not

exceed two-thirds of his pensionable emoluments.

If any member of the judiciary or the Attorney General, as

the case may be, to whom a pension has been granted under his Act

is appointed to a full time office in the public service, or is or was

after his retirement appointed to an office established by the

Constitution, also being a pensionable office under the Pensions

Ordinance, and subsequently retires in circumstances in which he

may be granted a pension, or leaves office at the end of his

appointment or re- appointment, as the case may be, he may be

granted, in lieu of his previous pension, a pension computed as if

the periods of his service had been continuous, and such pension

may be based on his pensionable emoluments on his previous or

final retirement from the service of Malta, or from the said office

established by the Constitution, whichever are the greater

Provided that if, on his previous retirement, he was paid a

gratuity and reduced pension, the gratuity, if any, to be paid to him

on final retirement shall be reduced by the amount of the gratuity

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already paid.

No pension, gratuity, or allowance granted under this Act

shall be assignable, transferable or liable to be attached,

sequestered, or levied upon, for or in respect of any debt or claim

whatever, except in so far as is provided in article 381(3) of the

Code of Organization and Civil Procedure.

If any member of the judiciary or the Attorney General, as

the case may be, to whom a pension or allowance has been granted

under this Act becomes a bankrupt, then such pension or allowance

shall forthwith cease

Provided always that in any such case where a pension or

allowance ceases by reason of the bankruptcy of the pensioner, it

shall be lawful for the President of Malta, from time to time, during

the remainder of such pensioner’s life or during such shorter period

or periods, either continuous or discontinuous, as the President of

Malta shall think fit, to cause all or any of the moneys to which

such pensioner would have been entitled by way of pension or

allowance had he not become a bankrupt, to be paid to or applied

for the maintenance and personal support or benefit of all or any,

exclusive of the other or others, of the following, namely, such

pensioner himself and any wife, child or children of his, in such

proportion and manner as the President of Malta thinks proper and

such moneys shall be paid or applied accordingly.

If any member of the judiciary or the Attorney General, as

the case may be, to whom a pension has been granted under this

Act is sentenced to a term of imprisonment by a competent court in

Malta or abroad for any crime or offence, then it shall be lawful for

the President of Malta to direct that such pension or allowance shall

forthwith cease

Provided that, where a pension or allowance ceases for the

reason aforesaid, it shall be lawful for the President of Malta to

cause all or any part of the moneys to which the member of the

judiciary or Attorney General concerned, as the case may be, would

have been entitled by way of pension or allowance, to be paid to or

applied for the benefit of his or her surviving spouse or surviving

partner in a civil union, child or children.

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

widower or the survivor of a civil union of a member of the

judiciary or of an Attorney General who was at the time of his

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

receive a pension

Provided that where there are one or more widows or

widowers or survivors of a civil union who had been married to or

had been in a civil union with a member of the judiciary or an

Attorney General at any time during his tenure of office, such

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

article 42A of the Social Security Act

Provided further that a person entitled to a pension under

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

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

such pensions.

(2) The provisions of sub-article (1) shall also apply to a

widow or widower of or to the survivor of a civil union with a

member of the judiciary or Attorney General who has not yet

attained pensionable age at the time of his death but who, before

such death, satisfied the requirements of pensionable service under

this Act.

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

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

judiciary or the Attorney General was entitled, in accordance with

t h e c u r r e n t p e n s i o n a b l e e m o l u m e n t s t h a t w o u l d h a v e be e n

applicable to the member of the judiciary or Attorney General but

for his death.

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

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

earnings from a gainful occupation exceeding the amount specified

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

of four weeks.

The provisions of this Act and any regulations made

thereunder shall apply to all members of the judiciary and to

persons occupying the post of Attorney General appointed after the

15th January, 1979, and no pension, gratuity or other allowance

shall be payable under this Act, nor shall any other payment be

made thereunder, to any person who was a member of the judiciary

or a person occupying the post of Attorney General before the 16th

January, 1979, or to the surviving spouse or surviving partner in a

civil union, child or other relative of any such person.