MALTA Law and Practice Contributed by: Antoine Cremona, Clement Mifsud-Bonnici and Chiara Frendo, Ganado Advocates
• 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 spe- cialised 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 (Subsid- iary Legislation 601.03), and determines remedies provided for in Maltese public procurement law, including challenging procurement procedures, challenging decisions made by contracting authori- ties, 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 (Chap- ter 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 estab- lished by the Administrative Justice Act (Chapter 490 of the laws of Malta) for the purpose of review- ing 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, deci- sion, 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. Admin- istrative 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 Protec- tion 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 infor- mation 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 appli- cation, 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 spe- cial 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
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