HERALDRY AND GENEALOGY REGULATIONS

HERALDRY AND GENEALOGY

SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION 445.07

HERALDRY AND GENEALOGY REGULATIONS

21st January, 2022 *

LEGAL NOTICE 489 of 2021.

(1)

The title of these regulations is the Heraldry and

Genealogy Regulations.

(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.

In these regulations, unless the context otherwise

requires

"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;

*See Legal Notice 10 of 2022.

HERALDRY AND GENEALOGY

"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

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;

HERALDRY AND GENEALOGY

"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 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

HERALDRY AND GENEALOGY

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

HERALDRY AND GENEALOGY

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 the Pursuivants of Arms.

PART IV

Register of Arms

(1)

The Register of Arms shall be maintained by the

Office and shall be divided into four sections

(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.

HERALDRY AND GENEALOGY

(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

HERALDRY AND GENEALOGY

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 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 application shall be delivered to the applicant by the Office 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.

(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

body corporate at the discretion of the Chief Herald.

(1)

Guidelines shall be published by the Office in the

Gazette and made available at a publicly accessible website on the

internet of the Office or the Agency.

HERALDRY AND GENEALOGY

(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;

HERALDRY AND GENEALOGY

(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

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.

HERALDRY AND GENEALOGY

(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.