Litigation In Malta: 2026

1. General

1.1 General Characteristics of the Legal System

The Maltese legal system has developed into a mixed legal system. In private law matters, it is largely a juris­diction based on the civil law tradition; however, dec­ades of British rule exposed the Maltese legal system to English law in various aspects of public law and the law of civil and criminal procedure. Consequent­ly, many branches of contemporary Maltese law are influenced by English law, ranging from public law to company law, fiscal law, and maritime law.

The legal system primarily follows the adversarial model, but there is some flexibility for judges to inter­vene at various stages, although not typically in an inquisitorial manner as is the case in most continental European jurisdictions. The legal process is generally conducted in both written and oral form.

1.2 Court System

The Maltese courts are divided into the Superior and Inferior Courts. In view of the size of the country, the judicial system is not split between federal and state courts.

Superior Courts

The Superior Courts consist of the Civil Court, the Court of Appeal, and the Constitutional Court.

Civil Court

The Civil Court of superior jurisdiction hears all cases, except where competence has been vested in another court or tribunal, and in principle, where the monetary value of the claim exceeds EUR15,000 or cannot be quantified when filing the lawsuit. The Superior Courts of criminal jurisdiction deal with criminal offences where punishment ranges from over six months up to life imprisonment.

The First Hall of the Civil Court is generally vested with competence to determine claims of a civil and commercial nature, and is divided into four sections:

• the general jurisdiction;
• the commercial section;
• the family section; and
• the voluntary jurisdiction section.

Court of Appeal

The Court of Appeal hears and determines all appeals from judgments of the Civil Court and the Court of Magistrates (Gozo) in its superior jurisdiction, and for this purpose is presided over by three judges.

Constitutional Court

The Constitutional Court acts as a first instance court in two instances:

• where any question arises as to the membership of the House of Representatives; and
• if the Electoral Commission suspends the electoral process.

It also has appellate jurisdiction in a variety of circum­stances, as follows:

• in the case of appeals from decisions of the First Hall of the Civil Court on matters of human rights and fundamental freedoms;
• in the case of appeals from decisions of any court of original jurisdiction affecting the interpretation of the Constitution, other than on a matter of human rights; and
• in the case of appeals as to the validity of laws, other than on a matter of human rights.

Inferior Courts

The Inferior Courts are the Court of Magistrates (Malta) and the Court of Magistrates (Gozo). They are vested with competence to hear and determine all monetary claims of an amount which exceeds EUR5,000 but does not exceed EUR15,000. All monetary claims of an amount not exceeding EUR5,000 are heard and determined by the Small Claims Tribunal.

The Court of Appeal also hears and determines appeals from the Inferior Courts; the Court of Appeal in its inferior jurisdiction is presided over by one judge for this purpose.

The laws of Malta also establish the following spe­cialised tribunals to hear and determine disputes of a special commercial nature.

• The Financial Services Tribunal, which is set up by the Malta Financial Services Authority Act (Chapter 330 of the laws of Malta), and is vested with the competence to determine disputes in relation to decisions made by the Malta Financial Services Authority.
• The Public Contracts Review Board, which is set up by the Public Procurement Regulations (Subsid­iary Legislation 601.03), and determines remedies provided for in Maltese public procurement law, including challenging procurement procedures, challenging decisions made by contracting authori­ties, and challenging contracts which have been entered into illegally by contracting authorities.
• The Financial Services Arbiter, which is established under the Arbiter for Financial Services Act (Chap­ter 555 of the laws of Malta), and hears complaints lodged by aggrieved investors against licensed financial services providers.
• The Industrial Tribunal, which is set up by the Employment and Industrial Relations Act (Chapter 452 of the laws of Malta), and is vested with the competence to determine certain cases relating to a set of employment relations issues and all cases of alleged unfair dismissals from employment.
• The Administrative Review Tribunal, which is estab­lished by the Administrative Justice Act (Chapter 490 of the laws of Malta) for the purpose of review­ing administrative acts by the public administration (ie, the government of Malta including its ministries and departments, local authorities, and any body corporate established by law of any order, licence, permit, warrant, authorisation, concession, deci­sion, or refusal to any demand of a member of the public). Any party to the proceedings before the tribunal who feels aggrieved by a decision of this tribunal may appeal to the Court of Appeal, sitting in either its superior or inferior jurisdiction. Admin­istrative acts that do not fall in the competence of the Administrative Review Tribunal are reviewed by the First Hall of the Civil Court, composed of one judge.
• The Information and Data Protection Appeals Tribunal, which is established by the Data Protec­tion Act (Chapter 586 of the laws of Malta), and hears and decides appeals following a decision of the Information and Data Protection Commissioner relating to data protection law or freedom of infor­mation requests. One may also appeal the decision of the tribunal on a point of law before the Court of Appeal.

Timeframes for Getting to Trial

When it comes to proceedings before the Maltese courts, there is no fixed timeframe within which a case must be scheduled for trial; the timing is entirely dependent on the practices of the presiding judge. However, in practice, after the filing of a court appli­cation, the first hearing is typically set within eight weeks. This also applies to cases brought before specialised tribunals.

An exception to this general position applies to spe­cial summary proceedings related to debt collection claims that are certain, liquid, and due. In such cases, the hearing must be scheduled no earlier than 15 days and no later than 30 days after the respondent has been served with the sworn application.

1.3 Court Filings and Proceedings

All proceedings before the above-mentioned courts and tribunals are held in public, and all documents and records of the proceedings are accessible to the public. As an exception to this general rule, the rel­evant court or tribunal may order certain documents filed in the records of proceedings to be sealed, par­ticularly where such documents contain confidential information or may otherwise be prejudicial to the parties to those proceedings. Any proceedings filed against or by the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU) involving money laundering cases are not pub­lic and are heard behind closed doors.

1.4 Legal Representation in Court

No person may exercise the profession of advocate in the Courts of Justice in Malta without the authority of the President of Malta, granted by warrant under the Public Seal of Malta. In order to obtain such a warrant, an individual must:

• be a fit and proper person as recommended by the Committee for Advocates and Legal Procurators;
• be of good conduct and morals;
• be a citizen of Malta or of a member state of the European Union, or be otherwise permitted to work in Malta under any law;
• have obtained the academic degree in law from the University of Malta, or such other qualification at Master's level as the Minister may from time to time prescribe, after consultation with the Senate of the University of Malta, or a comparable degree from such other competent authority in accordance with the principles of the mutual recognition of qualifications, after having read law in Malta or in a member state of the EU;
• have, for a period of not less than one year, regu­larly attended the office of a practising advocate of the Bar of Malta and the sittings of the Superior Courts;
• have full knowledge of the Maltese language, being the language of the courts; and
• have been duly examined and approved by two judges.

Advocates so admitted to the Maltese Bar have rights of audience before all courts.

Legal procurators in possession of a warrant issued by the President of the Republic and under the Pub­lic Seal of Malta have rights of audience before the Courts of Magistrates (inferior jurisdiction) and special tribunals and boards.

Foreign legal professionals from other EU member states wishing to practise in Malta may register with the Ministry for Justice, Equality and Governance, but will need to apply for a local warrant in order to prac­tise in the Courts of Justice in Malta. To be eligible, the applicant should have practised law in Malta for at least three years, have experience of Maltese law, and must satisfy the remaining requirements.

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Originally published in the Chambers Litigation Global Practice Guide

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.