Our lawyers are actively following all the measures which are being put in place from time to time by the Maltese authorities in light of the COVID-19 outbreak in Malta. These measures are taking effect by means of various Legal Notices, each of which is explained hereunder.
This Legal Notice revises the penalty imposed on those persons who fail to adhere to such measures and, or any obligatory period of quarantine set forth in L.N. 39 of 2020. In this respect, as from the coming into force of this Legal Notice, any person who fails to adhere to such measures and, or any obligatory period of quarantine shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to the payment of a penalty of three thousand Euro (€3,000) for each and every occasion that the quarantine period is breached.
As from the coming into force of this Legal Notice, any person who comes in contact with a person diagnosed as suffering from COVID-19 infectious disease (or as otherwise known as the novel coronavirus), must submit him or herself to a fourteen (14) day period of quarantine immediately upon receiving an oral or written order, as the case may be, from the Superintendent of Public Health.
The Superintendent of Public Health reserved the right to suspend or otherwise provide for other conditions where, in the opinion of the Superintendent, the quarantine of certain persons providing an essential service be subject to different conditions.
Moreover, whenever any person who is subject to quarantine requests a service from any public servant, public officer, person employed with a government department or entity, or from any private individual or entity, and that service requires the entry into the premises where quarantine is being effected, the person subject to quarantine shall inform that other person that he is subject to quarantine when requesting such service.
By virtue of this Legal Notice, the Superintendent of Public Health reserved the right to suspend or otherwise provide for other conditions to the obligatory quarantine of fourteen (14) days effective immediately upon a person’s arrival to Malta, as set forth in L.N. 40 of 2020, where the quarantine of certain persons providing an essential service be subject to different conditions.
By virtue of this Legal Notice, placement of stalls in open air markets was suspended with the exception of stalls that sell food products, which stalls should be placed at a distance of twenty (20) metres from one stall to another.
By virtue of this Legal Notice, the Superintendent of Public Health ordered the closure of the following venues indefinitely:
Notwithstanding this order, restaurants, snack bars and kiosks may continue to provide delivery and take-away services to the community. Moreover, restaurants situated in hotels may continue to provide room service to hotel guests and delivery service in the community.
Further to the mentioned venues, the Superintendent of Public Health may extend the order of closure to other places open to the public.
Further to L.N. 41 of 2020, the Superintendent of Public Health extended the closure of schools for students and educators indefinitely, until the Superintendent suspends or repeals such order for the closure of schools.
In an effort to boost social care during these exceptional circumstances in Malta – which justify the suspension of the normal procedure of granting licenses – the Chief Executive Officer as appointed under Article 13 of the Social Care Standards Authority (Cap. 582) reserved the right to grant emergency licences in order to provide social welfare services in relation to the well-being of individuals, whether by a person, agency or residential facility, or in the community or in a care and nursing home or in those individuals’ homes, including for a service being provided in a particular facility or/and on a number of beds.
These emergency licence shall only be issued for a maximum period of six (6) months. Such emergency licenses can be withdrawn at any time in the event that the exceptional circumstances cease to exist and can also be renewed for a further period of six (6) months at the discretion of the Chief Executive Officer.
This Legal Notice repeals L.N. 43 and L.N. 64 of 2020 and instead introduces the following rules governing the suspension of the running of all legal terms imposed by law.
Effective from the date when the Superintendent of Public Health ordered the closure of the courts by virtue of L.N. 65 of 2020, that is, as from the 16th of March 2020, for the purposes of guarding against and, or controlling dangerous epidemics or infectious disease;
1. The legal terms or periods imposed on notaries by law to:
2. As well as, any legal term related to fiscal benefits, incentives or exemptions, and to any expiration term of any promise of sale agreement (konvenju) duly registered in terms of law with the Commissioner of Revenue within the period established by law;
shall be suspended whilst the order for closure is in force, without the need of any signatures or formal renewals by the parties.
The suspension of the running of all legal terms shall last until twenty (20) days following the repeal of such order by the Superintendent. This means that legal terms were effectively suspended as of the 16th of March and shall remain suspended until twenty (20) days following the repeal of such order, after which all legal terms shall continue to run normal.
The term “courts” shall include the superior and inferior courts, the appellate courts irrespective of their competence or jurisdiction, any tribunal established by law, and any boards, commissions, committees or other entities before which any proceedings are heard or procedures undertaken which are subject to legal or administrative time limits for filing any claims, defences or other acts and the registry of those courts and, or tribunals.
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