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The Various Laws (Amendment) Act, 2005 (Bill No. 44)

entitled

An Act to amend various laws.

BE IT ENACTED by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the House of Representatives, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows>-
1. The short title of this Act is the Various Laws (Amendment) Short title.
Act, 2005.
PART I
2. This Part amends, and shall be read and construed as one with, Amendment of the
the Code of Organisation and Civil Procedure, hereinafter in this Part Code of
referred to as “the Code”.

Civil Procedure, Cap. 12.

3. In subarticle (1) of article 231 of the Code, immediately after Amendment of
the words “within six days from such judgment” there shall be inserted article 231 of the
the words “and when such leave to appeal from such separate judgements is granted the time for the filing of the appeal in respect thereof shall commence to run from the day on which the said leave is read out in open court”.
PART II
4. This Part amends, and shall be read and construed as one Amendment of the
with, the Civil Code, hereinafter in this Part referred to as “the Code”.

Civil Code, Cap. 16

5. Immediately after subarticle (3) of article 251 of the Code there Amendment of
shall be added the following proviso>
“Provided that the words “illegitimate father” wherever they occur in an act of civil status registered before the 1st March, 2005 shall not be reproduced in any copy or extract of such act issued by the Directors mentioned in sub-article (1) of this article, except as may be otherwise explicitly ordered or authorised by a Court.”.

article 251 of the

Code.

C 172

Amendment of the Customs Ordinance, Cap. 37.

Amendment of article 18 of the principal law.

Amendment of article 62 of the principal law.

Amendment of article 63 of the principal law.

Amendment of the Financial Administration and Audit Act, Cap.

174.

Addition of new article 72 to the principal Act.

PART III

6. This Part amends, and shall be read and construed as one with, the Customs Ordinance, hereinafter referred to in this Part as “the principal law”.
7. In article 18 of the principal law, for the words “a fine (multa) equivalent to the aggregate of the amount of duty payable on the goods contained in such package and double the value of such goods, or to twenty-five liri, whichever is the greater”, there shall be substituted the words “a fine (multa) equivalent to three times the amount of duty payable on the goods contained in such package or two hundred and fifty liri, whichever is the greater, so however that one third of the said amount shall be considered as a civil debt owed and payable to the department of customs”.
8. In article 62 of the principal law>
(a) for the words “a fine (multa) equivalent to the aggregate of the amount of duty payable on the goods and double the value of the goods, or to a fine (multa) of twenty-five liri, whichever is the greater”, there shall be substituted the words “a fine (multa) equivalent to three times the amount of duty payable on the goods or two hundred and fifty liri, whichever is the greater, so however that one third of this amount shall be deemed as a civil debt owed and payable to the department of customs, ”< and
(b) the second proviso thereof shall be deleted.
9. In article 63 of the principal law, the words “of small importance” shall be deleted and immediately after the words “loss of customs duty” there shall be added the words “not exceeding five hundred liri”.
PART IV
10. This Part amends, and shall be read and construed as one with, the Financial Administration and Audit Act hereinafter in this Part referred to as “the principal Act”.
11. Immediately after article 71 of the principal Act, there shall be added the following new article>
“72. (1) The Minister responsible for finance, or any person, body or unit delegated on his behalf, may, notwithstanding any other law, issue directives as provided
in subarticle (2) to any authority, board, foundation, corporation, institute, agency, commission, company or any other entity 51 per cent or more of which is held in ownership by the Government or over which the Government has effective control, or where 51 per cent of its income comes from public monies or from monies it receives by virtue of any law.
(2) The directives referred to in subarticle (1) may regulate>
(a) the recruitment of employees and, or their remuneration<
(b) the procurement of fixed assets, services, consultancies, contracts of whatever type or nature relating to operational and, or administrative expenses,
and, where such directives are issued, the Board of Directors or other Board responsible for the affairs of the entity shall ensure that the decisions taken at Board and at management level respect such directives.”.
PART V
12. This Part amends, and shall be read and construed as one with, the Import Duties Act, hereinafter referred to in this Part as “the principal Act”.
13. In subarticle 18A (5) of the principal Act, immediately after the words “under this article,” there shall be inserted the words “and where the duty endangered does not exceed five hundred liri,”.
PART VI
14. This Part amends, and shall be read and construed as one with, the Value Added Tax Act, 1998, hereinafter in this Part referred to as “the principal Act”.
15. Sub-article (4) of article 15 of the principal Act shall be deleted and sub-article (5) thereof shall be renumbered as sub-article (4) thereof.
16. Article 21 of the principal Act shall be amended as follows>
C 173

Amendment of the Import Duties Act, Cap. 337.

Amendment of article 18A of the principal Act.

Amendment of the Value Added Tax Act, Cap. 406.

Amendment of article 15 of the principal Act.

Amendment of article 21 of the principal Act.

C 174

Amendment of article 24 of the principal Act.

Amendment of article 32 of the principal Act.

Amendment of article 37 of the principal Act.

(a) in sub-article (3) of article 21 thereof, for the words “of the month following that during which he is required to deliver the notice specified in article 15(4)” there shall be substituted the words “of the second month next following the date of invoice or of the month during which the consignment or the supply of services is received, as the case may be, whichever is the earlier”< and
(b) in sub-article (4) thereof, for the words “as may be prescribed.” there shall be substituted the words “as may be prescribed>” and immediately thereafter there shall be inserted the following proviso>
“Provided that the running of interest shall be suspended for the period that exceeds two months from the date of the last sitting of the Board of Appeal relating to a particular appeal and the date when a decision is given by the Board or a final judgement is delivered by the Court of Appeal (Inferior Jurisdiction), as the case may be.”.
17. In sub-article (3) of article 24 of the principal Act, for the words “that person by the Commissioner.” there shall be substituted the words “that person by the Commissioner>” and immediately thereafter there shall be inserted the following proviso>
“Provided that no interest shall be due for any period during which such person fails to produce information and, or documentation as may be requested by the Commissioner, for the verification of the amount claimed.”.
18. In sub-article (1) of article 32 of the principal Act, immediately after the words “from the end of the said tax period” there shall be inserted the words “or from the date in which the tax return for that tax period is submitted, whichever date is the later”.
19. Immediately after sub-article (3) of article 37 of the principal
Act, there shall be inserted the following new sub-article>
“(4) Where, during the course of an investigation, a person co-operates with the Commissioner, accepts an agreement and within one month from the signing of the agreement pays the amount of tax due, the agreed administrative penalty and the interest due, that person shall be liable to an administrative penalty in an amount equivalent to 10 per cent of the amount of tax due.”.
20. Article 38 of the principal Act shall be amended as follows> (a) in sub-article (1) thereof, for the words “it is furnished
to the Commissioner.” there shall be substituted the words “ it is furnished to the Commissioner>” and immediately thereafter there shall be inserted the following proviso>
“Provided that such administrative penalty shall in no case exceed two hundred and fifty liri for every return submitted late.”< and
(b) in sub-article (2) thereof, for the words “it is furnished to the Commissioner.” there shall be substituted the words “ it is furnished to the Commissioner>” and immediately thereafter there shall be inserted the following proviso>
“Provided that such administrative penalty shall in no case exceed two hundred and fifty liri for each such declaration or statement.”
21. In sub-article (3) of article 39 of the principal Act, for the words “given to the Commissioner.” there shall be substituted the words “given to the Commissioner>” and immediately thereafter there shall be inserted the following proviso>
“Provided that such administrative penalty shall in no case exceed two hundred and fifty liri for each such notice.”.
22. In article 40 of the principal Act, for the words “cancelled by the Commissioner.” there shall be substituted the words “cancelled by the Commissioner>” and immediately thereafter there shall be added the following proviso>
“Provided that such administrative penalty shall in no case exceed five hundred liri.”.
23. In article 42 of the principal Act, for the words “administrative penalty” there shall be substituted the words “administrative penalty, in whole or in part,”.
24. Immediately at the end of sub-article (2) of article 59 of the principal Act there shall be added the words “Upon the lapse of the period of two days mentioned in this sub-article the Commissioner shall be entitled to register in the public registry or land registry, as the case may be, a note of privilege for the amount demanded in the judicial act which note of privilege shall be registered by any advocate or notary.”.
C 175

Amendment of article 38 of the principal Act.

Amendment of article 39 of the principal Act.

Amendment of article 40 of the principal Act.

Amendment of article 42 of the principal Act.

Amendment of article 59 of the principal Act.

C 176

Amendment of article 62 of the principal Act.

Amendment of article 76 of the principal Act.

Amendment of article 77 of the principal Act.

Amendment of article 78 of the principal Act.

Amendment of article 80 of the principal Act.

25. Immediately at the end of article 62 of the principal Act, there shall be added the words “For the purposes of the interpretation of this article, the words “any other law” shall include, and shall be deemed to have always included, article 2029 of the Civil Code and any failure to register the special privilege mentioned in this article shall not have, and shall not be considered to have ever had, any effect on the existence or validity of the said special privilege, except where a final judgement has been delivered by the Court or a final Arbitration Award has been given by an Arbitration Tribunal.”.
26. In article 76 of the principal Act, for the words “not less than one hundred liri and not exceeding three hundred liri” there shall be substituted the words “not less than three hundred liri and not exceeding one thousand five hundred liri”.
27. Article 77 of the principal Act, shall be amended as follows> (a) immediately after paragraph (n) there shall be added the
following new paragraph>
“(o) supplies or offers to supply to another person and, or puts up for sale goods, without being in possession of a fiscal cash register or manual fiscal receipt books as issued or approved by the Commissioner,”< and
(b) for the words “not less than one hundred and fifty liri and not exceeding one thousand liri” there shall be substituted the words “not less than three hundred liri and not exceeding one thousand five hundred liri”.
28. Article 78 of the principal Act shall be amended as follows>
(a) in sub-article (1) thereof, for the words “be less than three hundred liri” there shall be substituted the words “be less than five hundred liri”< and
(b) in sub-article (2) thereof, immediately after the words “on the latest of the said convictions” there shall be added the words “ impose a fine (multa) of not less than one thousand liri”.
29. In sub-article (1) of article 80 of the principal Act, for the words from “to the aggregate of the amount of tax” to the words “whichever shall be the greater” there shall be substituted the words “to three times the tax payable or to a fine (multa) of one hundred and fifty liri, whichever shall be the greater, so however that one third of the said amount shall be deemed as a civil debt due to the Commissioner”.
30. In sub-article (3) of article 84 of the principal Act, immediately after the words “against the provisions” there shall be inserted the words “of paragraph (b) of article 76 or”, and for the words from “a fine (multa) of fifty liri” to the words “within fifteen days” there shall be substituted the words “one hundred liri in the case of a first offence, two hundred liri in the case of a second offence and four hundred liri in the case of a third offence, within fifteen days”.
PART VII
31. (1) This Part amends, and shall be read and construed as one with, the Electronic Commerce Act, hereinafter in this Part referred to as “the principal Act”.
(2) This Part shall come into force on such date as the Minister responsible for communications may by notice in the Gazette appoint and different dates may be so appointed for different provisions and different purposes thereof.
32. Article 2 of the principal Act shall be amended as follows> (a) immediately before the definition “addressee” there shall
be inserted the following new definition>
“ “the Act “ means the Electronic Commerce Act and includes any regulations made thereunder<”< and
(b) in the definition “competent authority” for the words “in terms of article 17” there shall be substituted the words “in terms of sub-article (3) of article 25”.
33. Article 17 of the principal Act shall be amended as follows> (a) subarticle (1) thereof shall be deleted<
(b) subarticle (2) thereof shall be renumbered as the whole article< and
(c) for the words “The Minister may prescribe on any of the following matters-” there shall be substituted the words “The Minister may, in the context of the supervision of signature certification service providers established in Malta, prescribe on any of the following matters-”.
C 177

Amendment of article 84 of the principal Act.

Amendment of the Electronic Commerce Act, Cap. 426.

Amendment of article 2 of the principal Act.

Amendment of article 17 of the principal Act.

C 178

Amendment of article 25 of the principal Act.

Amendment of the Value Added Tax Act, 1994, Act No. XII of 1994.

Amendment of article 29 of the principal Act.

Amendment of article 48 of the principal Act.

Amendment of article 51 of the principal Act.

Amendment of the Customs and Excise Tax Act, 1997, Act No. XII of 1997.

34. After subarticle (2) of article 25 of the principal Act there shall be added the following new subarticle>
“(3) The Minister shall by Order designate a competent authority which shall be responsible for monitoring and ensuring compliance with the provisions of this Act and for the undertaking of any such other functions as the Minister may from time to time consider necessary.”.
PART VIII
35. This Part amends the Value Added Tax Act, 1994, and shall be read and construed as one with the Value Added Tax Act, hereinafter referred to in this Part as “the principal Act”.
36. In sub-article (1) of article 29 of the principal Act, immediately after the words “from the end of the said tax period” there shall be inserted the words “or from the date in which the tax return for that tax period is submitted, whichever date is the later”.
37. Immediately at the end of sub-article (2) of article 48 of the principal Act, there shall be added the words “Upon the lapse of the period of two days mentioned in this sub-article the Commissioner shall be entitled to register in the public registry or land registry, as the case may be, a note of privilege for the amount demanded in the judicial act which note of privilege shall be registered by any advocate or notary.”.
38. Immediately at the end of article 51 of the principal Act, there shall be added the words “For the purposes of the interpretation of this article, the words “any other law” shall include, and shall be deemed to have always included, article 2029 of the Civil Code and any failure to register the special privilege mentioned in this article shall not have, and shall not be considered to have ever had, any effect on the existence or validity of the said special privilege, except where a final judgement has been delivered by the Court or a final Arbitration Award has been given by an Arbitration Tribunal.”.
PART IX
39. This Part amends, and shall be read and construed as one with, the Customs and Excise Tax Act, 1997, hereinafter referred to in this part as “the principal Act”.
40. In sub-article (1) of article 45 of the principal regulations, for the words “in respect of which the return was or should have been furnished.” there shall be substituted the words “or six years from the date when the return is furnished for that tax period, whichever date is the later.”.
41. Immediately at the end of sub-article (2) of article 50 of the principal Act, there shall be added the words “Upon the lapse of the period of two days mentioned in this sub-article the Director shall be entitled to register in the public registry or land registry, as the case may be, a note of privilege for the amount demanded in the judicial act which note of privilege shall be registered by any advocate or notary.”.
C 179

Amendment of article 45 of the principal Act.

Amendment of article 50 of the principal Act.

42. Immediately at the end of article 52 of the principal Act, Amendment of
there shall be added the words “For the purposes of the interpretation article 52 of the principal Act.
of this article, the words “any other law” shall include, and shall be
deemed to have always included, article 2029 of the Civil Code and any failure to register the special privilege mentioned in this article shall not have, and shall not be considered to have ever had, any effect on the existence or validity of the said special privilege, except where a final judgement has been delivered by the Court or a final Arbitration Award has been given by an Arbitration Tribunal.”.
PART X
43. (1) This Part amends the Malta Communications Authority Act, and it shall be read and construed as one with the Malta Communications Authority Act, hereinafter in this Part referred to as “the principal Act”.
(2) This Part shall come into force on such date as the Minister responsible for communications may by notice in the Gazette appoint and different dates may be so appointed for different provisions and different purposes thereof.
44. In article 2 of the principal Act in the definition “decision”, for the words “includes any determination, direction,” there shall be substituted the words “includes any determination, direction, licence condition,”.
45. In sub-article (1) of article 33 of the principal Act, for the words “the lapse” there shall be substituted the words “the beginning”.

Amendment of the Malta Communications Authority Act, Cap.

418.

Amendment of article 2 of the principal Act.

Amendment of article 33 of the principal Act.

C 180

Amendment of article 36 of the principal Act.

46. In paragraph (b) of sub-article (2) of article 36 of the principal Act, the words “from amongst panels of persons” there shall be substituted the words “from amongst a panel of persons”.
Objects and Reasons
The main object of this Bill is to amend various fiscal, financial administration and other laws in order to review penalties, provide for better accountability by entities financed from public funds and to clarify a number of issues that have arisen from time to time.

Ippubblikat mid-Dipartiment ta’ l-Informazzjoni (doi.gov.mt) — Valletta — Published by the Department of Information (doi.gov.mt) — Valletta

Mitbug[ fl-Istamperija tal-Gvern — Printed at the Government Printing Press

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