MALTA Law and Practice Contributed by: Antoine Cremona, Clement Mifsud-Bonnici and Chiara Frendo, Ganado Advocates
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 member- ship 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 inter- pretation 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 deter- mined 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 dis- putes 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 Regula- tions (Subsidiary Legislation 601.03), and determines remedies provided for in Maltese public procurement law, including challeng- ing procurement procedures, challenging decisions made by contracting authorities, and challenging contracts which have been entered into illegally by contracting authori- ties; • the Financial Services Arbiter, which is estab- lished under the Arbiter for Financial Ser- vices 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 depart- ments, local authorities, and any body corpo- rate established by law of any order, licence, permit, warrant, authorisation, concession,
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