AWARD OF HONORIS CAUSA DEGREES REGULATIONS

AWARD OF HONORIS CAUSA DEGREES

SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION 327.569

AWARD OF HONORIS CAUSA DEGREES

REGULATIONS

1st June, 2017

LEGAL NOTICE 182 of 2017, as amended by Legal Notices 307 of 2023

and 241 of 2024.

(1) These regulations may be cited as the Award of

Honoris Causa Degrees Regulations.

(2) In these regulations, unless the context otherwise requires –

“the Award” means the Honoris Causa degree; and

“the Committee” means the Honours Committee (which inter alia

covers the Award of Fellowships and the Naming of Buildings and

Spaces)

These regulations shall be applicable from 1 June, 2017,

onwards.

(1) An honoris causa degree is the highest award the

University can bestow.

(2) Through its choice of honoris causa degree recipients, the

University makes a public declaration of its values.

(3) By awarding honoris causa degrees, the University

recognizes those individuals whose accomplishments are of such

excellence that they provide inspiration and leadership to its

academic staff, its graduates, its students and to society at large.

(1) Senate and Council shall establish an Honours Committee

to propose to Senate and Council individuals for the conferral of honoris

causa degrees.

(2) The Committee shall consist of

The Rector (Chair);

Three members appointed by and from Council; and

Three members of the academic staff appointed by Senate.

(3) The period of appointment shall be of one year, renewable

for a maximum of four years.

(4) The Committee shall have the power to regulate its functions

by establishing Rules of Procedure for such purpose and/or to

supplement the criteria stipulated within these regulations.

(1) In selecting individuals, the Committee shall seek to

choose persons of such calibre that, in honouring them, the

University too is honoured. Through its recommendations of

nominees, the Committee shall seek to reflect the character and

diversity of the country and of the University itself.

AWARD OF HONORIS CAUSA DEGREES

(2) On the recommendation of the Committee and Senate, the

Council may, at its discretion, order the conferment of an honoris

causa degree on

(a) any alumnus of the University who has achieved

national or international distinction in a particular

field of expertise; or

(b) any individual who has provided significant support to

the University, its faculties or programmes of study

sustained over a number of years; or

(c) any individual who has given distinguished service to

the University or society in areas such as educational,

artistic, cultural, industrial, environmental or public

service; or

(d) any individual who is likely to contribute in enhancing

the University’s reputation and in furthering its

strategic plans and development; or

(e) any individual whose outstanding contribution to a

particular field or to society at large may have not yet

been widely recognized; or

(f)

any other person the University may deem worthy of

such a distinction.

(3) An honoris causa degree shall not be awarded to

(a) members of staff, still in employment at the

University; or

(b) any employees or members of any board or committee

or the University Council or any entity of the

University during their tenure; or

(c) members currently elected on the Maltese House of

Representatives or members of the European

Parliament representing Malta.

(4) Newly retired members of staff of the University shall only

be considered for honoris causa degrees in exceptional

circumstances.

(1) The honoris causa degree to be awarded shall be the

most appropriate one, depending on the background and

achievements of the individual being proposed.

(2) The University shall have the power to confer the

following honoris causa degrees on individuals for their outstanding

achievements

(a)

Doctor of Literature, honoris causa (D.Litt.): awarded for

outstanding achievement, usually of a scholarly or creative nature, in

literature and the arts, and including law;

(b)

Doctor of Science, honoris causa (D.Sc.): awarded for

outstanding achievement, usually of a scholarly or creative nature, in

the pure and applied sciences, and including engineering and

AWARD OF HONORIS CAUSA DEGREES

medicine;

(c)

Doctor of Law, honoris causa (D.L.): awarded for

outstanding or scholarly achievement in public service and in

national or international governance;

(d)

Doctor of Social Sciences, honoris causa (D.S.S.)

awarded for outstanding achievement, usually of a scholarly or

creative nature, in the field of social sciences;

(e)

Doctor of Philosophy, honoris causa (D. Phil.): awarded

for outstanding achievement in a general or pluri-disciplinary area of

knowledge, not easily reducible to any one of the other categories

mentioned above; and

Master of Letters, honoris causa (M.Litt.).

(f)

(1) Nominations for the award of honoris causa degrees

shall be made confidentially in writing by any member of Senate to

the Rector at any time of the year. The individual being nominated

shall not be made aware of the proposal being made.

(2) Proposals shall be supported by

(a) a statement by the proposer outlining in detail the

motivation for the proposed Award; and

(b) the Curriculum Vitae of the person being proposed.

(3) In considering proposals for Award, the Committee may

request independent testimonials by individuals of repute (not

related by consanguinity to the nominee), vouching for the

nominee’s merits for the Award.

(4) Nominations shall not be accepted if made by a person on

his own behalf.

(5) The Rector shall submit all proposals received, together with

the accompanying documents, to the Committee.

(1) All members of the Committee shall keep the

proceedings of the meetings of the Committee in the strictest

confidence and the names of the proposed recipients shall not be

disclosed to any person outside the Committee.

(2) The Committee shall consider all nominations proposed to it

according to the criteria stipulated in these regulations. The

Committee shall ensure that the number of awards is kept restricted

and that the selected individuals are of a truly high calibre.

(3) The Committee shall make its recommendations to Senate

and Council at their next scheduled meetings. Once the individual

proposed is approved, the Rector shall write formally to the

recipient about the University’s wish to confer an honoris causa

degree.

(4) The name of the person proposed for an Award shall remain

AWARD OF HONORIS CAUSA DEGREES

confidential until the intended recipient accepts the offer of the

Award. In cases where the proposed recipient is not approved by

the Committee, the nominee shall not be informed. No written

communication shall be provided by the Committee except to

positively recommend to Senate.

(1) Honoris causa degrees shall only be conferred during a

convocation for the Award of Honoris Causa degrees, to be held on

a date as approved by Senate, normally in November/December.

(2) Honoris causa degrees shall only be awarded in absentia in

exceptional circumstances, these being

(a) the inability of the nominee to attend for certified

medical reasons; or

(b) the inability to travel to Malta for reasons beyond the

control of the nominee, which reasons must be

accepted by the Committee as valid and sufficient.

(3) If the recipient is unable to receive the honoris causa degree

on the date proposed to him, the University may offer to defer the

conferment to a future occasion.

(4) Honoris causa degrees shall only be awarded posthumously

in very exceptional circumstances.

(5) Honoris causa graduates may use the post-nominals

indicated in paragraph (2) of regulation 6. Such graduates may not

adopt the prefix ‘Dr’.

1) On a recommendation of the Senate, which shall

explain the motivation for its decision in writing, Council may, at

its discretion, revoke honoris causa degrees, already awarded by

the University. Revocation shall subsist for grave reasons only,

namely a conviction by a court of criminal jurisdiction,

involvement in human rights abuses, and/or evidence of corruption.

These reasons, or knowledge thereof by the Committee, shall not

precede the conferment of the honoris causa degree but should be

discovered or become availabl e to the Comm ittee after the

conferment of the honoris causa degree.

(2) The University shall, promptly and expeditiously, publish

the news of a revocation and have such information duly entered in

its register of honoris causa graduates.

(3) The University reserves the right to pursue the appropriate

legal proceedings should the honoris causa graduate persist in

making reference to the honoris causa degree by virtue and/or via

any means of communication, including publications, websites and

social media.