REGISTRATION OF CLUBS REGULATIONS

SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION 10.21

REGISTRATION OF CLUBS REGULATIONS

4th October, 1939

GOVERNMENT NOTICE 505 of 1939, as amended by Government

Notice 535 of 1956; and Legal Notices: 148 of 1975, 69 of 1977 and Act

XVI of 2018.

The title of these Regulations is Registration of Clubs

Regulations.

In these Regulations -

(a) the expression "club" means only any building or part

of a building used by an association of persons for

their common resort;

(b) the expression "secretary" means any person

performing the duties of secretary or any person who

is declared to be the secretary in the application for

registration of the club and any person responsible for

the management of the club; and

(c) the expression "annoyance to neighbours" includes

annoyance emanating from the premises of a club or

caused outside or at the approaches to a club, by or in

consequence of any person proceeding to or from the

club, other than a club belonging to a political party.

No club shall be opened until it is registered at the office of

the Commissioner of Police.

All applications for the registration of a club shall be

forwarded by the secretary of the proposed club to the

Commissioner of Police accompanied by a statement containing the

following particulars

(a) name and object of the club;

(b) address of club premises;

(c) name, surname and place of residence of the secretary;

(d) rules of the club relating to -

(i)

the election of members and the admission of

temporary and honorary members and guests;

(ii) the terms of subscription and entrance fee;

(iii) the cessation of membership;

(iv) the hours of opening and closing;

(v) the procedure of altering the rules;

(vi) the supply of intoxicants, if any.

The Commissioner of Police shall not register a club if -

(a) the club occupies premises which have been used

within the last twelve months immediately preceding

the application for registration, as a wines and spirts

shop, the licence whereof has been cancelled;

(b) he has reasons to believe that the club is intended for

the purpose of gambling and provided that he has

verified that prior authorisation has been issued by the

Malta Gaming Authority in terms of the Gaming Act;

(c) the number of paying members is less than thirty;

(d) the total yearly subscription payable by all the

members of the club does not cover the rental value of

the premises;

(e) in the opinion of the Commissioner of Police, the

proposed name of the club closely resembles or is

likely to cause confusion with the name of another

registered club, or is likely to occasion a breach of

public good order;

(f)

the opening of the club is deemed likely to cause

annoyance to neighbours on grounds which the

Director of Public Works, the Commissioner of Police

and the Chief Government Medical Officer, or their

respective representative, consider to be reasonable.

A certificate of registration of the club shall be delivered to

the secretary of every registered club and such certificate shall be

displayed in the premises of the club.

(1) The secretary of every club shall furnish by the 15th

January of each year to the Commissioner of Police a statement

signed by him containing the particulars laid down in regulation 4.

Any alteration made during the year to the particulars above

referred to shall also be communicated to the Commissioner of

Police.

(2) The registered name of a club shall not be changed without

the previous approval in writing of the Commissioner of Police

who may refuse such approval for any of the reasons mentioned in

regulation 4(e).

(1) A list containing the names and addresses of all the

members of the club and the record of their latest payment of their

subscription shall be kept on the premises.

(2) A declaration that this regulation has been complied with

shall accompany the statement mentioned in regulation 6.

The Commissioner of Police may, with the approval of the

Minister responsible for the Police, order the closing of any club on

any of the following grounds

(a) that it is habitually frequented by persons under

eighteen years of age;

(b) that the number of paying members has been reduced

to less than thirty;

(c) that it is kept or used for any unlawful purpose or that

it is not generally conducted as a bona fide club;

(d) that it is frequented by persons of bad character or that

frequent cases of drunkenness or excessive gambling

occur on the premises provided that the Commissioner

of Police has verified that prior authorisation has been

issued by the Malta Gaming Authority in terms of the

Gaming Act;

(e) that non-members are habitually admitted to the club

for the purpose of obtaining intoxicating liquor or for

gambling provided that the Commissioner of Police has

verified that prior authorisation has been issued by the

Malta Gaming Authority in terms of the Gaming Act;

(f)

that applicants for membership are admitted to enjoy

the privileges of membership without an interval of at

least two days between their nomination and

admission;

(g) that conditions which would have impeded the

registration of the club under these Regulations have

supervened since the registration;

(h) that any restriction imposed by the Commissioner of

Police, in regard to the hours during which the club

may be kept open, has been violated;

(i)

that annoyance to neighbours has been or is to be

caused, on grounds which the Director of Public

Works, the Commissioner of Police and the Chief

Government Medical Officer, or their respective

representative, consider to be reasonable.

When a club has been closed down by order of the

Commissioner of Police, it shall be struck off the register and no

club shall be registered on the premises until the lapse of twelve

months from the date of such closing down.

It shall be lawful for the Commissioner of Police, for

reasons of public order, to direct at any time the immediate

temporary closing of any club. In the event of any such order being

given by the Commissioner of Police, the persons present in the

club shall leave the premises forthwith, and the club shall not be

reopened except with the permission of the Commissioner of

Police.

The Commissioner of Police shall have power to restrict,

from time to time, the hours during which a club may be kept open,

if the Director of Public Works, the Commissioner of Police and the

C h i e f G o v e r n m e n t M e d i c a l O f f i c e r, o r t h e i r r e s p e c t i v e

representative, shall deem such a measure to be necessary so as to

prevent annoyance to neighbours.

Any person frequenting a club which is not registered in

accordance with these Regulations or which has been closed down

in virtue of regulation 9, shall be guilty of a contravention in

accordance with article 318 of the Code of Police Laws.

These Regulations are not applicable to organizations

which are purely of a religious nature or to juvenile clubs intended

solely for sporting purposes.

The secretary of a club shall be responsible for the

observance of these Regulations.

The provisions of the Shops for the Sale of Wine, Beer or

Spirituous Liquors (Licences, Good Order and Public Decorum)

Regulations shall apply to any premises registered as a club, unless

the Commissioner of Police, in his absolute discretion, exempts any

such club from the provisions of this regulation.