CIVIL PROTECTION (DISCIPLINE AND ASSOCIATION) REGULATIONS

SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION 411.01

CIVIL PROTECTION (DISCIPLINE AND

ASSOCIATION) REGULATIONS

1st January, 2000

LEGAL NOTICE 207 of 1999, as amended by Legal Notices 426 of 2007,

53 of 2015 and 136 of 2017 and Act XVI of 2022.

PART I

Preliminary

The title of these regulations is the Civil Protection

(Discipline and Association) Regulations.

(Regulation 9)

OFFENCES AGAINST DISCIPLINE

BY MEMBERS OF THE ASSISTANCE AND RESCUE FORCE

1. Disobedience to orders, which offence is committed when a member of the

Assistance and Rescue Force disobeys or, without reasonable cause, fails to carry out

any lawful order whether in writing on not.

2. Insubordination, which offence is committed when a member of the

Assistance and Rescue Force is insubordinate by word, act or demeanour.

3. Abuse of authority, which offence is committed when the conduct of a

member of the Assistance and Rescue Force towards another such member or a

member of the public is oppressive or abusive.

4. Absence from duty, which offence is committed when a member of the

Assistance and Rescue Force -

(a) without reasonable cause is absent from duty or is late for any parade,

drill or other attendance; or

(b) without reasonable cause leaves his place of duty.

5. Neglect of duty, which offence is committed when a member of the

Assistance and Rescue Force -

(a) without reasonable cause fails to attend to or carry out his duty

promptly and diligently; or

(b) by carelessness or neglect suffers any loss, damage or injury to occur to

any person or property; or

(c) fails to report any matter which it is his duty to report; or

(d) fails to make an entry, which it is his duty to make, in any book or

document; or

(e) fails properly to account for, or to make a prompt and true return of, any

money or property which comes into his possession as a result of his

employment.

6. Falsehood, which offence is committed when a member of the Assistance

and Rescue Force -

(a) knowingly or through wilful neglect makes any false, misleading or

inaccurate oral or written statement or entry in any record or document

made, kept or required for fire and rescue services purposes; or

(b) has knowingly or through wilful neglect made any false, misleading or

inaccurate statement in connection with his appointment as a member of

the Assistance and Rescue Force.

7. Misconduct in relation to official documents, which offence is committed

when a member of the Assistance and Rescue Force, without reasonable cause,

destroys or mutilates any record or document made, kept or required for fire and

rescue services purposes, or alters or erases or adds to any entry in such a record or

document.

8. Improper disclosure of information, which offence is committed when a

m e m b e r o f t h e A s s i s t a n c e a n d R e s c u e F o r c e , w i t h o u t p r o p e r a u t h o r i t y,

communicates to any person information which he acquires in confidence as a

member of the Force.

9. Corrupt or improper practice, which offence is committed when a member

of the Assistance and Rescue Force improperly uses, or attempts so to use, his

position as a member of the Force for his own private advantage or for the private

advantage of some other person.

10. Loss of, or damage to Government property, which offence is committed

when a member of the Assistance and Rescue Force -

(a) wilfully or negligently causes any waste or loss of, or damage to, any

property of the Department of Civil Protection, or fails to take

reasonable care thereof; or

(b) fails to report, as soon as is reasonably practicable, any loss of, or

damage to, any property issued to, or used by, him or entrusted to his

care.

11. Unfit for duty, which offence is committed when a member of the Assistance

and Rescue Force renders himself unfit through drink or drugs or similar means for

duties which he is or will be required to perform or which it is reasonable to foresee

that he will have to perform.

12. Criminal conduct, which offence is committed when a member of the

Assistance and Rescue Force has been found guilty by a court of law of a criminal

offence which -

(a) occurs in connection with his duties as a member of the Force; or

(b) does not so occur but has a bearing on his suitability for his job; or

(c) is liable to bring the service into disrepute.

13. Untidiness, which offence is committed when a member of the Assistance

and Rescue Force while on duty, or while off duty but wearing uniform in a public

place, is without reasonable cause dirty or untidy in his person, clothing or personal

equipment.

(1) These regulations shall apply to all members of the

Assistance and Rescue Force established in terms of article 8 of the

Act.

(2)

In these regulations, unless the context otherwise requires -

"Act" means the Civil Protection Act;

"Department" means the Department of Civil Protection;

"Director General of Civil Protection" means the Director

General of Civil Protection and includes, to the extent of the

authority given, any other public officer authorised in that behalf

by such Director General of Civil Protection with the Minister’s

approval for the period of time as the Minister decides;

"Force" means the Assistance and Rescue Force referred to in

article 8 of the Act;

"Minister" means the Minister responsible for Civil Protection

and includes, to the extent of the authority given, any person

authorised on that behalf for any purpose of these regulations.

PART II

Civil Protection Department and Personnel

Duties, Discipline, Association and Other Related Matters

Amended by

L.N. 426 of 2007.

(Regulation 13)

STATUTE OF THE CIVIL PROTECTION STAFF ASSOCIATION

(Deleted by Legal Notice 53 of 2015)

Civil Protection personnel shall be employed on such

duties as to afford protection of the population against the effects of

any form of natural or man-made disaster or emergency

necessitating co-ordinated measures and services by central and

local government in conjunction with other competent agencies and

non-governmental organisations with the aim of saving lives and

property, reducing casualties, maintaining essential services and

supplies, and in general organising such protective measures,

training and education as are deemed necessary and possibly to

prevent the occurrence of such disasters.

(1) The Department of Civil Protection shall comprise a

Director General of Civil Protection and such other officers of such

ranks as may from time be approved by the Minister.

(2) The Director General of Civil Protection shall have the

command, control and direction of the Department.

(3) The Department shall comprise also an Assistance and

Rescue Force set up in terms of article 8 of the Act.

(1) The Director General of Civil Protection shall make

and transmit to the Minister a report dealing generally with the

activities of the Department and the status of civil protection in

Malta in the preceding year.

(2) The report shall bc submitted to the Minister, unless

otherwise directed by him, within the first four months of the year

following the year to be reported upon.

(1) The Director General of Civil Protection shall ensure

that officers under his command shall maintain and improve their

knowledge and their efficiency in civil protection matters by

attending courses of in-service training and lectures at suitable

intervals.

(2) The Director General of Civil Protection shall ensure also

that persons from outside the Department assisting civil protection

personnel in dealing with emergency or disaster circumstances, are

trained in related matters and for this purpose it shall be part of his

duties to see that courses are regularly organised by the department

for them in order to improve their knowledge and capabilities to

deal with such situations, and for them to maintain the necessary

links with civil protection personnel.

(1) The Director General of Civil Protection shall assign to

all officers of the Department as well as to all other persons

employed with or assisting the Department, the duties to be carried

out by them.

(2) Such duties shall, where practicable and necessary, be set

out in detail in written orders made by the Director General of Civil

Protection.

(3) It shall be the duty of every officer to promptly comply,

without hindrance or challenge, with such written orders and with

any other order or directive given by the Director General of Civil

Protection or other senior officer of the Department.

(4)

In addition officers of the Department shall -

(a) perform their duties with a high degree of vigilance,

competence and discipline;

(b) pay strict attention to cleanliness and dress, and shall

always wear the approved uniform when on duty;

(c) dedicate their whole time to the service of the

Department and shall not carry on any other work unless

prior permission in writing has been obtained from the

Director General of Civil Protection;

(d) be liable to be stationed at such places as the Director

General of Civil Protection may from time to time

appoint; and

(e) be deemed to be on duty at all times.

(5)

(a) No person appointed to the Force, other than by

promotion within the Force, shall enter upon the duties

of the office, or act in any way in connection therewith,

before he has taken the Oath of Office set out in the

Schedule to the Act.

(b) The Oath of Office shall be taken and signed by all

officers appointed to the Force before a person duly

empowered to do so by the Minister, or before the

Director General of Civil Protection.

(1) An officer of the Department who has any complaint or

request to make in connection with his duties or situation in the

Department shall submit such complaint or request to the Director

General of Civil Protection.

(2) The Director General of Civil Protection, if unable to

dispose of such complaint or request himself, shall submit the case

with his remarks for the consideration of the Minister.

(3) If the Director General of Civil Protection declines to

attend to a complaint or request of such officer or to take any action

thereon within fifteen days, the officer shall be entitled to submit

his representations in writing to the Minister through the Director

General of Civil Pro tect ion. The Director General of Civil

Protection shall transmit such representations to the Minister

without delay.

(4) An officer making a frivolous or vexatious complaint or

request shall render himself liable to disciplinary action.

(1) Any member of the Force who commits any of the

offences set out in the First Schedule shall be guilty of an offence

against discipline.

(2)

(a) Disciplinary proceedings shall be regulated according

to article 110 of the Constitution.

(b) Where any powers are delegated according to article

110 of the Constitution to the Director General of Civil

Protection to exercise disciplinary action, the Director

General of Civil Protection shall adopt the following

provisions

(i)

The Director General of Civil Protection shall

appoint a senior officer to collect the evidence

and to recommend the relative punishment

applicable in the case, if any.

(ii) The Director General of Civil Protection may

not conduct such proceedings where he is a

direct witness of the fact alleged and has to give

evidence on oath.

(iii) The Director General of Civil Protection or a

senior officer shall have the power and authority

to hear evidence on oath, and a warrant signed

by him shall be equivalent to a subpoena issued

to compel a witness to attend or to produce

documents.

(iv)

No person summoned as a witness shall be

obliged to answer any question or produce any

document which may tend to incriminate him

and every such person shall, in respect of any

evidence given by him in the enquiry, be entitled

to all the privileges to which a witness giving

evidence before the Court of Magistrates in

criminal matters is entitled in respect of

evidence given by him before such court.

(v)

Any person who, in evidence on oath before the

Director General of Civil Protection or a senior

officer, gives false evidence, shall be guilty of a

criminal offence and shall be liable, on

conviction, to a term of imprisonment not

exceeding two years and to general interdiction.

(3) In proceedings as are mentioned in subregulation (2)(b) the

Director General of Civil Protection shall ensure that

(a) an officer higher in rank than the officer charged shall

be detailed to represent the Department and produce

the evidence in support of the charge;

(b) the officer charged may defend himself in person, or

through the assistance of another officer of his own

choice, or of a representative of a trade union.

(4)

(a) The officer charged may summon witnesses on his own

behalf, and cross examine witnesses brought against

him.

(b) The Director General of Civil Protection or senior

officer shall hear final submissions, both on the merits

and on the punishment awardable, from the

prosecution and the defence before giving his decision

and awarding punishment, if any.

(c) The rules of evidence which would be applicable in a

court of law shall apply to such proceedings, and

summary notes are to be taken by the presiding officer,

signed by him, and attached to the records of the case.

(5) The senior officer appointed by the Director General of

Civil Protection according to subregulation (2)(b) shall always

transmit to the Director General of Civil Protection the relative file

together with his opinion therein about the merits of the case and

the punishment, if any, recommended by him, and the Director

General of Civil Protection may adopt the recommendation or

reform it either by acquitting the officer charged or reducing the

punishment, if any.

(6) Before deciding on a case the Director General of Civil

Protection shall, within seven days of the transmission of the

recommendation to him by the senior officer in accordance with

subregulation (5), notify the officer charged as to the punishment,

if any, to be awarded and the officer may, if he is not in agreement

with the said recom mend at ion, wi thin seven days f rom th e

notification, make written representations to the Director General

of Civil Protection, or to the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry in

the event that the disciplinary case was heard by the Director

General of Civil Protection himself. The decision of the person to

whom the appeal is made shall be final.

(7) The Director General of Civil Protection may with the

approval of the Minister make rules regarding the procedure to be

followed in the prelim inary hearing into an allegation of a

disciplinary offence.

(8) Any disciplinary proceedings taken against a member of the

Force shall be without prejudice to any proceedings which may be

taken against him under the provisions of the Criminal Code or any

other law and any proceedings taken under any of such laws shall

be without prejudice to any such disciplinary procedures for the

same fact.

(9) All penalties imposed in respect of offences against

discipline shall be recovered from the offender’s pay which is due

or is to become due; provided that the Director General of Civil

Protection may, after taking into consideration the number of the

dependants of the officer and other similar factors, spread the

payment of such penalty over a number of monthly instalments not

exceeding the equivalent of one day’s salary of the offender or may

give him the option to compensate through extra hours to be

worked.

It shall be lawful for the Minister to remove from his office

at any time an officer of the Force who -

(a) is considered unlikely to become, or has ceased to be,

an efficient officer; or

(b) is incapable, by reason of some infirmity of mind or

body, of discharging the duties of his office when such

infirmity is likely to be permanent; or

(c) after considering the conditions of the Force, the

circumstances of the case and the usefulness of the

officer in the Force, it is considered in the public

interest the officer should not continue to serve as a

member of the Force.

When any officer shall cease to hold and exercise his

office, he shall forthwith return to such person and at such time and

place as the Director General of Civil Protection shall direct, all

uniforms and other clothing and equipment which have been

supplied to him at the public expense and which he is directed by

the Director General of Civil Protection to return.

(Deleted by Legal Notice 53 of 2015).

(Deleted by Legal Notice 53 of 2015).

Conduct prejudicial to discipline, which offence is committed when a

member of the Assistance and Rescue Force while on duty or in uniform acts in a

manner which is, or is likely to be, prejudicial to the discipline of the Force.

Conduct prejudicial to the reputation of the Force, which offence is

committed when a member of the Assistance and Rescue Force intentionally or

recklessly and without reasonable cause acts in a manner which damages, or is likely

to damage, the reputation of the Force.