Malta law reform : new opportunities in light of the Statute Law Revision Act, 2021

Abstract

Malta, the smallest member of the European Union, may be described as a mixed jurisdiction. Traditionally, Malta has been a civil law country and was legally and politically connected for centuries with Sicily. The arrival of the British colonial masters in 1800 did not immediately change this legal dynamic. Malta remained a civil law country until, slowly, common law started affecting more public law than private law. Towards the end of the British period, private and substantive criminal laws remained mainly civil law. However, constitutional, administrative, and commercial law have become more common law-oriented. When Malta became an independent state in 1964, by choice, modern Maltese law, especially modern commercial law, became more based on English common law than anything else. Thus, after independence, rather than resorting back to civil law as Malta had for centuries before, Malta became a mixed jurisdiction by choice. With its accession to the European Union in 2004 and the obligation to transpose numerous directives, EU law now contributes continuously to making Malta a mixed jurisdiction. Currently, Malta still has a civil, commercial, and criminal code, but these are mere chapters of the never-ending list of chapters that make up the laws of Malta.