Heraldry and Genealogy Regulations, 2021

L.N. 489 of 2021

CULTURAL HERITAGE ACT

(CAP. 445)

Heraldry and Genealogy Regulations, 2021

IN EXERCISE of the powers conferred by article 72 of the

Cultural Heritage Act, the Minister responsible for the National

Heritage, the Arts and Local Government has made the following

regulations:-

(1) The title of these regulations is the Heraldry and

Genealogy Regulations, 2021.

commencement.

(2) The scope of these regulations is for the establishment of

the Office of the Chief Herald of Arms of Malta and relative functions,

duties and powers, and to establish procedures for the delivery of

heraldic, genealogical and vexillological services.

(3) These regulations shall come into force on such a date as

the Minister may by notice in the Gazette establish, and different dates

may be so established for different provisions or purposes of these

regulations.

In these regulations, unless the context otherwise requires

Interpretation.

"Act" means Cultural Heritage Act;

"Agency" shall have the same meaning as assigned to it in article

2 of the Act;

"Arms" includes Badges and all heraldic devices;

"bodies corporate" includes constitutional bodies, institutions,

public and parastatal bodies of Malta, including official agencies and

Local Councils, other associations, companies, partnerships and

associations registered or based in Malta and in foreign jurisdictions;

"Certificate of Registration" means the document issued in terms

of regulation 14;

"Chief Herald" means the Chief Herald of Arms of Malta as

appointed in terms of regulation 3;

"Gazette" shall have the same meaning as assigned to it in article

3 of the Interpretation Act;

"Genealogical Registrar" means the Genealogical Registrar as

appointed in terms of regulation 16;

"guidelines" and "forms" mean the guidelines and forms

published by the Office of the Chief Herald of Arms of Malta in terms

of Regulation 13;

"grantee" shall mean a person to whom a grant is made;

"Honour" includes

(a) all honours and decorations granted or recognized

from time to time under the Ġieh ir-Repubblika Act including the Cap. 251.

relative insignia;

(b) all honours, hereditary or otherwise, created, granted

or recognized during the government of the Malta by the Grand

Masters of the Order of Saint John between the years 1530 and

1798 as resultant from the Record;

(c) other honours, of local or foreign origin, hereditary or

otherwise deemed to be of cultural or historical value by the

Chief Herald of Arms of Malta;

"individuals" includes individuals holding constitutional offices,

Maltese nationals and foreign nationals;

"Letters Patent" includes Certificate of Grant;

"Malta" means the Island of Malta, the Island of Gozo and the

other islands of the Maltese Archipelago, including the territorial

waters thereof;

"Minister" means the Minister responsible for the national

heritage;

"Office" means the Office of the Chief Herald of Arms of Malta

as described in regulation 3;

"public employee" shall have the same meaning as assigned to it

in article 2(1) of the Public Administration Act;

"record" means the acts relative to honours as preserved at the

National Library of Malta;

"Register of Arms" means a national register as described in

regulation 8 where all arms granted or registered by the Chief Herald

of Arms are recorded;

"Registrar" means the official responsible for keeping the

Register of Arms under the supervision of the Chief Herald.

PART II

Appointment and Functions of the Chief Herald, and the Constitution

and Composition of the Office of the Chief Herald

(1) The primary function of the Chief Herald shall be to

deal with Heraldry in Malta with due regard also to Vexillology and

Genealogy.

(2) A Chief Herald of Arms of Malta shall be appointed by the

Minister on recommendation of the Agency under such terms and

conditions as established in the letter of appointment.

(3)

The Chief Herald shall be

(a) a public employee;

(b) appointed as from amongst persons holding the

necessary competences;

(c)

appointed for a term of three (3) years

Provided that on the expiry of such term, the same person

may be reappointed for further term or terms.

(1) In the exercise of his functions, the Chief Herald shall Indemnity.

sign all acts in the name of the Office.

(2) The Chief Herald may appoint a Deputy Herald and a

Registrar with the approval in writing of the Agency, referred to as

Heraldic Agents

Provided that the Heraldic Agents shall form part of the

Office together with the Genealogical Registrar.

(3) The Chief Herald, the Heraldic Agents and in general any

officer of the Office shall be indemnified against any liability incurred

by the Office for any matter performed in the exercise of their duties.

(1)

It shall be the function of the Chief Herald to

(a)

represent the Office in Malta and internationally;

(b) advise the Agency regarding cooperation with other

governments and international organisations in the fields of

heraldry, vexillology and genealogy;

(c) maintain a specific register to be known as the

Register of Arms in Malta as described in regulation 8, and to

establish and maintain such other registers, inventories and

indexes as may be required in connection with the good

maintenance of the Register of Arms;

(d) promote Malta’s

heraldic,

vexillological

and

genealogical heritage;

(e) safeguard, promote and promulgate heraldic,

vexillological and genealogical heritage as an intrinsic part of

Malta’s heritage;

(f) participate and promote participation in international

collaborative heraldic, vexillological or genealogical projects,

and to enter into agreements with similar bodies outside the

Maltese Islands with prior approval of the Agency;

(g) compile, publish and distribute with or without

charge books, magazines, journals, reports or other printed

matter, including aural, visual, computerised and internet

accessible material as may be appropriate;

(h) undertake research and consult the Government

departments, public and private organisations and international

organisations and other persons as may be required in the

discharge of its duties under these regulations;

(i) appoint and accredit monitors and experts as

necessary for the purposes of these regulations with prior

approval of the Agency;

(j) publish guidelines on the provision of heraldic

services and to establish and maintain standards in the

preparation and depiction of Arms and Flags;

(k) guide, advise, warn and consult, particularly where

arms unofficially in use may not be conducive to the harmonious

rules of heraldry and or vexillology, and to offer solutions;

(l) devise and grant new Arms, both personal and

corporate;

(m) maintain, manage and control the application process

for personal and Bodies Corporate desirous of acquiring or

registering Arms;

(n) grant Arms by Letters Patent in accordance with these

regulations

Provided that the Chief Herald may, in the exercise of

this function, issue an official blazon without artwork;

(o) register other Arms, in accordance with these

regulations

Provided that the Chief Herald may, in the exercise of

this function, issue an official blazon without artwork;

(p) monitor the operation of these Regulations on behalf

of the Agency and prepare an annual report on its operation;

(q) perform any matter conducive towards the attainment

of the above functions.

PART III

Administrative and Personnel Provisions

(1) The Chief Herald may from time to time, with the

approval of the Agency, appoint up to three (3) Pursuivants of Arms,

which persons shall serve within the Office, and shall not be

considered as employees.

(2)

These Pursuivants of Arms shall be appointed solely for the

purpose of providing advice and assistance to the applicants. They

shall liaise between the applicant and the Chief Herald.

(3) All Letters Patent shall be cosigned by the Chief Herald in

the name of the Office and the Registrar who shall attest that such

Letters Patent have been duly registered.

(4) Pursuivants of Arms and the Registrar may not sign in the

name of the Office.

The Agency shall establish remuneration for the Office and Remuneration.

the Pursuivants of Arms.

PART IV

Register of Arms

(1) The Register of Arms shall be maintained by the Content and

annual

Office and shall be divided into four sections

publication of

the Register of

Arms.

(a) a record of all Letters Patent issued in favour of

individuals;

(b) a record of all Letters Patent issued in favour of

bodies corporate;

(c) a record of all Registration of other Arms as

established under regulation 13;

(d)

a record of all honours

Provided that claimants to hereditary honours, shall not

have their names registered in the Register of Arms unless they have

successfully applied for a grant or registration of arms in accordance

with these regulations.

(2) The Chief Herald shall, from time to time, set forth the

procedures and requirements and relevant fees for individuals and

bodies corporate applying to the Office for a Grant of Arms under

these regulations. These shall be published in the Guidelines in terms

of regulation 13.

(3) The procedures and requirements and relevant fees

mentioned in sub-regulation (2) shall be published in the guidelines in

terms of regulation 13.

(4) The Chief Herald shall ensure that the Register of Arms is

maintained in a transparent and orderly manner.

(5)

For the purposes of sub-regulation (4), the Chief Herald

shall by the 31 st of January of every year cause to be made available at

a publicly accessible website on the internet of the Office or the

Agency and published in the Gazette a notice containing the following

(a) a list of all the Letters Patent issued during the

previous basis year indicating the particulars of the individual or

body corporate in whose favour the Letters Patent has been

issued, the date of grant and a blazon of the arms so granted; and

(b) a list of all the Certificates of Registrations issued

during the previous basis year indicating the particulars of the

individual or body corporate in whose favour the Certificate of

Registration has been issued, the date of grant and a blazon of

the arms so registered.

PART V

All Applications

(1) Applications may be made according to the published

form, against payment of the required fee to the Chief Herald for a

Grant or Registration of Arms, as the case may be.

(2) All fees shall be non-refundable irrespective of the

outcome.

(3) Notice of applications for a Grant or Registration of Arms

shall be published by the Office in the Gazette not more than twenty-

one (21) days following the receipt by the Chief Herald of the

completed application form. This notice shall indicate the particulars

of the applicant and a blazon of the arms so applied for.

(4) The publication of the notice mentioned in sub-regulation

(3) shall be deemed for all purposes of law to be sufficient notice for

anyone to make known to the Chief Herald by not later than twenty-

one (21) days after publication of any valid and cogent representations

for or against the application which representations shall be addressed

to the Registrar either in writing by means of registered mail to the

Office of the Chief Herald or electronically by means of email to the

email address pro tempore of the Office.

(5) No representation may be received after the lapse of the

twenty-one (21) days described in sub-regulation (4). Thereafter, the

Chief Herald shall determine each application within not more than

sixty (60) working days

Provided that the aforesaid term shall be interrupted when

the Chief Herald directs the applicant to make appropriate

amendments to the application.

(6) The direction for amendments shall contain considered

reasons and shall be delivered to the applicant either in writing by

means of registered mail to the applicant’s postal address or

electronically by means of email to the address as provided by the

applicant.

(1)

An application can be either approved, discontinued Decision on the

application.

or refused.

(2) An application is deemed approved when the Chief Herald

issues a Letters Patent or Certificate of Registration as the case may

be.

(3) An application is deemed discontinued when the applicant

has not provided an amended application in terms of sub-regulations

(5) and (6) of regulation 9 within sixty (60) days of receipt of the

aforesaid direction from the Chief Herald.

(4) An application is deemed refused when the Chief Herald,

after receipt of an amended application, finds that such application has

not abided by the considered reasons.

(1) The Chief Herald’s decision approving or refusing an Procedures

application shall be delivered to the applicant by the Office either in following

decision.

writing by means of registered mail to the applicant’s postal address or

electronically by means of email to the address as provided by the

applicant.

(2) The name of a successful applicant shall be entered by the

Registrar in the Register of Arms not more than twenty-one (21) days

following the decision by Chief Herald to make a Grant of Arms to

such applicant.

Arms may be granted to or registered by an individual or The Chief

Herald is vested

body corporate at the discretion of the Chief Herald.

with the power

to grant or

register Arms in

Malta.

(1) Guidelines shall be published by the Office in the The Office to

Gazette and made available at a publicly accessible website on the publish

pertinent

internet of the Office or the Agency.

guidelines and

forms.

(2) Such guidelines shall include, but not limited to, the

Conduct of the Office together with the eligibility criteria, procedures

and requirements of applications, and all the forms used by the Office

and the relevant fees.

(3)

If such guidelines are amended, the Office shall

immediately publish an updated version of the guidelines in the

Gazette and make them available at a publicly accessible website on

the internet of the Office or the Agency.

PART VI

Registration of other Arms

(1) Applications from eligible individuals and bodies

corporate for the Registration of Arms granted or certified by a foreign

state-authorised body to the satisfaction of the Chief Herald, shall be

made according to published forms as the case may be.

(2) If it can be proven that certain personal Arms have been in

uninterrupted use for a considerable period of time by the applicant’s

ancestors, those Arms would be registered tale quale.

(3) Arms registered under this Regulation shall not give rise to

issue of a Letters Patent but only to a Certificate of Registration.

PART VII

Letters Patent and Certificates of Registration

(1) A Grant of Arms by Letters Patent to any individual

shall devolve to the grantee’s descendants and where appropriate, in

accordance with the principles, traditions and rules of heraldry in

respect of the use of cadency and differencing.

(2) A Grant of Arms by Letters Patent to any body corporate

shall on the dissolution, abolition, wind-up or bankruptcy of such a

grantee be suspended in the Register of Arms pending cancellation by

the Chief Herald after the expiry of a period of not more than sixty

(60) days from the date of suspension.

(3) A Certificate of Registration shall only serve as proof of the

registration of other Arms.

PART VIII

Genealogical Records and Services

The Chief Herald may from time to time assign the

following functions and responsibilities to a person appointed by the

Agency as the Genealogical Registrar

(a) receive, record, maintain and make accessible for

research genealogical material at the Office;

(b) undertake appropriate genealogical research at the

Office of Arms in pursuance of its functions under these

regulations;

(c) establish and maintain a National Inventory of

Genealogical Records;

(d) make the National Inventory of Genealogical Records

electronically accessible to researchers and the public;

(e) liaise with government departments, state agencies,

universities, institutions, libraries, archives and other such places

of deposit or custody of genealogical records;

(f) liaise with voluntary genealogical organisations and

persons or bodies corporate providing commercial genealogical

research to the public;

(g) liaise with institutions

providing

courses

in

genealogy and genealogical research;

(h) establish and maintain a panel of suitably qualified

genealogists to undertake, from time to time, research

assignments for and on behalf of the Chief Herald;

(i) advise the Chief Herald on the custody, accessibility

and quality of genealogical material held by the Office and

elsewhere;

(j) undertake such other duties and functions as may be

assigned to him or her in writing, from time to time, by the Chief

Herald.

PART IX

Ancillary Matters

(1)

All matters shall be conducted in the English Conduct of

matters.

language.

(2) Where translations are required the cost of the translation

of the text by a qualified professional shall be borne by the applicant.

(3) Where requested by an applicant, the Chief Herald may

include the linear descent of the grantee where appropriately

documented on Certificates of a Grant of Arms or on other appropriate

certificates.

(4) The seal of the Office of the Chief Herald shall be

published in the Gazette and made available at a publicly accessible

website on the internet of the Office or the Agency.

(5) Each Chief Herald shall have the right to devise his own

personal seal, provided that such seal does not utilise the Arms of

Malta.

(6) The personal seal of all successive Chief Heralds of Arms

shall be published in the Gazette and made at a publicly accessible

website on the internet of the Office or the Agency.

(7) The Chief Herald may allow electronic confirmation and

registration of heraldic representations including the electronic

issuance of Certificates of a Grants of Arms.

All grants and registrations of Arms including the mention

of honours and titles shall be without prejudice to the Ġieh ir-

Repubblika Act and are made solely for historical purposes.

The Office of the Chief Herald shall be permitted to use the

Arms of Malta.

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