MALTA Law and Practice Contributed by: Antoine Cremona, Clement Mifsud-Bonnici and Chiara Frendo, Ganado Advocates
• the promotion of Malta as a centre for inter- national commercial arbitration; • encouraging domestic and international arbitration/mediation as a means of settling disputes; and • conducting domestic and international arbi- tration/mediation in Malta. The MAC operates under the direction of a board of governors, whose chairperson and deputy chairperson must have been practising lawyers for at least 12 years. The MMC is also subject to this requirement. 13. Arbitration 13.1 Laws Regarding the Conduct of Arbitration For arbitrations where the arbitral procedure is governed by Maltese law, the Arbitration Act (Chapter 387 of the Laws of Malta) and the Arbitration Rules (Subsidiary Legislation 387.01) apply. The arbitration agreement must be in writ- ing, and the arbitration must be registered with the Malta Arbitration Centre (MAC). In order to institute arbitration, a notice of claim must be lodged with the MAC, including information about the claim and the nomination of an arbi- trator. The notice must then be served on the defendant. If the parties agree on the procedure to be adopted by the arbitral tribunal, then the arbitrator may themselves determine the pro- cedure to be adopted. Proceedings are gener- ally informal and flexible in nature. In default of agreement between the parties, the rules set out in the Code of Organisation and Civil Procedure will apply with respect to the production of docu- ments and/or witnesses. Domestic arbitration awards are deemed to con- stitute an executive title under Maltese law.
As for the recognition and enforcement of for- eign awards, Malta has signed and ratified the 1958 New York Convention on Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards. In matters relating to international arbitration, the Arbitration Act is based on the 1985 UNCITRAL Model Law. 13.2 Subject Matters Not Referred to Arbitration Certain subject matters are not arbitrable, includ- ing criminal cases and cases relating to acts of civil status and public law matters. 13.3 Circumstances to Challenge an Arbitral Award An application may be made to the Courts of Justice in Malta to set aside an award where Malta was the seat of the arbitration largely on the same grounds as those for the refusal of recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards listed in the New York Convention and the setting aside grounds in the UNCITRAL Mod- el law. The Court of Appeal will only set aside an award if the appellant proves to its satisfaction, for example, that: • a proper notice was not given; • the arbitral award falls outside the parameters of the arbitration agreement; • the arbitration was not conducted in accord- ance with the agreement of the parties; or • the award conflicts with the public policy of Malta. An application to the Court of Appeal to set aside an arbitral award must be filed within 15 days of the notification to the applicant of the award, and the applicant must provide a copy of the appli- cation to the arbitrators and the MAC no later than 15 days after the filing of the application.
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