The current Constitution of Malta was adopted as a legal order on September 21, 1964, and has been amended twenty-one times, most recently in 2001, the last amendment consisting of a revision in the protection of freedom of movement. The constitution is typically called the Constitution of the Republic of Malta, and replaced the 1961 Constitution, dating from October 24, 1961. George Borg Olivier was its main instigator and negotiator. The office of the President of Malta (Maltese: ), came into being on 13 December 1974, when Malta became a Commonwealth republic. ... Edward Fenech Adami (born February 7, 1934, Birkirkara) was the Prime Minister of Malta from 1987 until 1996 and from 1998 until 2004. ... The Prime Minister of Malta is the most powerful figure within the government of Malta, although the President of Malta has higher rank. ... Lawrence Gonzi Lawrence Gonzi (born July 1, 1953) is the Prime Minister and finance minister of Malta. ... Tonio Borg is the Deputy Prime Minister of Malta. ... The Parliament of Malta, the House of Representatives (Il-Kamra tar-Raprezentanti), has 65 members, elected for a five year term in 13 5-seat constituencies with a possibility of rewarding bonus members for the popular largest party which doesnt succeed in getting absolute majority in parliament. ... Political parties in Malta lists political parties in Malta. ... Politics of Malta Categories: Election related stubs | Elections in Malta ... Since 1993, Malta has been subdivided into 68 local councils or localities. ... The European Union or EU is a supranational and international organization of 27 member states. ... For the first several years of independence, Malta followed a policy of close co-operation with the United Kingdom and other NATO countries. ... Information on politics by country is available for every country, including both de jure and de facto independent states, inhabited dependent territories, as well as areas of special sovereignty. ... September 21 is the 264th day of the year (265th in leap years). ... 1964 (MCMLXIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1964 calendar). ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ... October 24 is the 297th day of the year (298th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 68 days remaining. ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ... George Borg Olivier (5 July 1911 - 29 October 1980) was three times the Prime Minister of Malta (1950 to 1955 and 1962 to 1971). ...

Summary

Under its 1964 constitution, Malta became a parliamentary democracy within the British Commonwealth. Queen Elizabeth II was sovereign of Malta, and a governor general exercised executive authority on her behalf, while the actual direction and control of the government and the nation's affairs were in the hands of the cabinet under the leadership of a Maltese prime minister. 1964 (MCMLXIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1964 calendar). ... This article needs additional references or sources to facilitate its verification. ... Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor; born 21 April 1926) is Queen of sixteen sovereign states, holding each crown and title equally. ... Look up sovereign in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A Governor-General (in Canada always, and frequently in India prior to the abolition of the last monarchy, Governor General) is most generally a governor of high rank, or a principal governor ranking above ordinary governors [1]. The most common contemporary usage of the term is to refer to the... A cabinet is a body of high-ranking members of government, typically representing the executive branch. ... The Prime Minister of Malta is the most powerful figure within the government of Malta, although the President of Malta has higher rank. ...

On December 13, 1974, the constitution was revised, and Malta became a republic within the Commonwealth, with executive authority vested in a Maltese president. The president is appointed by parliament. In turn, the president appoints as prime minister the leader of the party that wins a majority of parliamentary seats in a general election for the unicameral House of Representatives. December 13 is the 347th day of the year (348th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... Forms of government Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      A republic is a form of government maintained by a state or country whose sovereignty is based on popular consent and whose governance is based on popular representation and control. ... Under the doctrine of the separation of powers, the executive is the branch of a government charged with implementing, or executing, the law. ... The office of the President of Malta (Maltese: ), came into being on 13 December 1974, when Malta became a Commonwealth republic. ... Political parties in Malta lists political parties in Malta. ... A general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are up for election. ... Unicameralism is the practice of having only one legislative or parliamentary chamber. ... The Parliament of Malta, the House of Representatives (Il-Kamra tar-Raprezentanti), has 65 members, elected for a five year term in 13 5-seat constituencies with a possibility of rewarding bonus members for the popular largest party which doesnt succeed in getting absolute majority in parliament. ...

The president also nominally appoints, upon recommendation of the prime minister, the individual ministers to head each of the government departments. The cabinet is selected from among the members of the House of Representatives, the number of which may vary between 65 and 69 members elected on the basis of proportional representation. The Constitution provides for general elections to be held at least every five years. Candidates are elected by the Single Transferable Vote system, where the surplus votes of an elected candidate are transferred to the candidate receiving the second preference votes. The process of vote transfers continues until all five candidates for a district are elected. A minister or a secretary is a politician who holds significant public office in a national or regional government. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... Proportional representation (sometimes referred to as full representation, or PR), is a category of electoral formula aiming at a close match between the percentage of votes that groups of candidates (grouped by a certain measure) obtain in elections and the percentage of seats they receive (usually in legislative assemblies). ... This STV ballot for the Australian Senate illustrates group voting tickets. ...

The Independence Constitution

The Independence Constitution of Malta of 1964 established Malta as a liberal parliamentary democracy. It safeguarded the fundamental human rights of citizens, and forced a separation between the executive, judicial and legislative powers, with regular elections based on universal suffrage. Malta still had these three organs of the State, even before independence. Look up liberal on Wiktionary, the free dictionary Liberal may refer to: Politics: Liberalism American liberalism, a political trend in the USA Political progressivism, a political ideology that is for change, often associated with liberal movements Liberty, the condition of being free from control or restrictions Liberal Party, members of... The judiciary, also referred to as the judicature, consists of justices, judges and magistrates among other types of adjudicators. ... A legislature is a governmental deliberative body with the power to adopt laws. ... Elections Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      Universal suffrage (also general suffrage or common suffrage) consists of the extension of the right to vote to all adults, without distinction as to race, sex, belief, intelligence, or economic or social status. ...

The present constitution was developed through constitutional history and its evolution. The constitutions of Malta fell under three main categories. These were:

• Those over which the British possessed total power;

• The intermediate genres of constitutions (1921-1947), where Malta had self government (the 1961 constitution was very similar to these constitutions);

• the Independence Constitution of 1964.

On July 27, 1960, the Secretary of State for the Colonies declared to the British House of Commons]] the wish of Her Majesty’s Government to reinstate representative government in Malta and declare that it was now time to work out a new constitution where elections could be held as soon as it was established. The Secretary, Iain Macleod, also notified the House of the appointment of a Constitutional Commission, under the chairmanship of Sir Hilary Blood, to devise thorough constitutional schemes after consultation with representatives of the Maltese people and local interests. Self-governance is an abstract concept that refers to several scales of organization. ... July 27 is the 208th day (209th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 157 days remaining. ... 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1960 calendar). ... The Secretary of State for the Colonies or Colonial Secretary was the British Cabinet official in charge of managing the various British colonies. ... Representative democracy comprises a form of democracy and theory of civics wherein voters choose (in free, secret, multi-party elections) representatives to act in their interests, but not as their proxies—i. ... The Right Honourable Iain Macleod, PC (1913 – 1970) was a UK Conservative politician. ... Many entities have been called a Constitutional Commission with the general purpose of reviewing a constitution, or planning to create one. ... The Maltese people or Maltese are a nation and ethnic group native to Malta, an island nation consisting of an archipelago of seven islands in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. ...

The Commissioners presented their report on December 5, 1960. The report was published on March 8, 1961. That same day, the Secretary of State declared to the House of Commons that Her Majesty’s Government had taken a decision. The Commissioner’s constitutional recommendations to be the basis for the subsequent Malta constitution were to be granted. The 1961 Constitution was also known as the Blood Constitution. It was enclosed in the Malta Constitution Order in Council 1961 and it was completed on 24 October of that same year.^[1]. The statement that the Order makes provision for a new constitution where Malta is given self-government is found on the final page of the Order in Council. December 5 is the 339th day (340th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1960 calendar). ... March 8 is the 67th day of the year (68th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ...

The 1961 Constitution provided the backbone for the Independence Constitution. A date was provided to guarantee this legal continuity. An indispensable characteristic of this constitution is the substitution of the diarchic system, which was no longer practicable, by system of only one Government, the Government of Malta, with full legislative and executive powers. At that time Malta was still a colony and responsibility for defence and external affairs were referred to Her Majesty’s Government. There was a clear indication that the road towards independence continued and now was at a highly developed stage. It is imperative to recognise that the 1961 Constitution established most of the features of the 1964 Constitution. The British recognised Malta as a State^[2]. Another important characteristic of this constitution was an innovative introduction of a chapter covering the safeguarding of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms of the Individual.^[3] This is fairly significant because Fundamental Human Rights are a protection for the individual by the State. In the 1961 Constitution, Fundamental Human Rights and Freedoms are found in Chapter IV. The protection of freedom of movement was introduced only in the 1964 Constitution. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... For the first several years of independence, Malta followed a policy of close co-operation with the United Kingdom and other NATO countries. ... Title page of a European Union member state passport. ...

The declaration of rights of the inhabitants of the islands of Malta and Gozo dated June 15, 1802, gives a collective declaration of rights. The 1961 Constitution gave birth to what was recognised as a Parliament in the 1964 Independence Constitution. The Cabinet had the general direction and management of the Government of Malta. It consisted of the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister alone might summon it and it was this office which presided over it. Not more than seven other ministers were members of the Legislative Assembly, and they were collectively responsible to it. This was one of the first attempts to restate some of the more important British Constitutional Conventions in the constitution. In the exercise of his powers, the Governor was to act on the advice of the Cabinet, except where he was directed to act in his discretion or on the recommendation or advice of a person other than the Cabinet. June 15 is the 166th day of the year (167th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... --69. ...

Three elections of the promulgation of the 1961 Constitution existed.^[4]. This constitution included the presence of a Cabinet for the first time in Malta. The legislature was unicameral. The Legislative Assembly’s normal life span was of four years. It consisted of fifty members and they were elected by universal suffrage from ten electoral divisions on the system of proportional representation by the single transferable vote. The 1961 Constitution constructed a firm foundation for a future achievement of Independence. When in 1964 Malta did in fact become independent, owing to the fact that the Government chose to avoid breaking all ties with the United Kingdom, there was legal continuity of the legislation, as a result of which Parliament remained functional. To a certain extent the same situation existed as regards to the legislation by the British Parliament for Malta. The Malta Independence Order itself developed into the subject of an entrenchment, since here it is declared that this evolved into an extension to the 1961 Constitution even in the sense of an amendment^[5]. Unicameralism is the practice of having only one legislative or parliamentary chamber. ... A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters of an electoral district to a parliament; in the Westminster system, specifically to the lower house. ... Proportional representation (sometimes referred to as full representation, or PR), is a category of electoral formula aiming at a close match between the percentage of votes that groups of candidates (grouped by a certain measure) obtain in elections and the percentage of seats they receive (usually in legislative assemblies). ...

Even though Malta acquired independence, there was an ongoing presence of continuity. One of them is the monarchy pre-1964 and prior 1964. The Malta Independence Order 1964 was subject to the Malta Independence Act of that same year and it is a document that holds the chief regulations thT govern the constitution of a state. This document is supreme over each and every other document and all legislation is subject to it. Throughout Malta's constitutional history, the nation acquired its own constitution, and to a certain extent, the Independence Constitution is made up of certain principles that arose for the first time in previous constitutions. It can be said that the Independence Constitution has evolved from the constitution which preceded it. But one must not ignore the fact that changes have taken place in this process of evolution. The statement that the 1964 constitution is in fact a replica of the 1961 constitution with sovereignty added might be criticised by saying that some factors differ between the two constitutions. The 1964 constitution is not merely what can be defined as an improvement. It is more like another stepping-stone in constitutional history being the final step in a long series of constitutions. In fact, even though it may seem that some provisions were altered from the 1961 constitution to the 1964 constitution, some of those provisions remained unchanged until the amendments of the 1964 constitution were made. ^[6] Sovereignty is the exclusive right to exercise supreme political (e. ...

Amendments

The Malta Independence Order, 1964, as amended by Acts:

• XLI of 1965, XXXVII of 1966
• IX of 1967
• XXVI of 1970
• XLVII of 1972
• LVII, LVIII of 1974
• XXXVIII of 1976
• X of 1977
• XXIX of 1979
• IV of 1987
• XXIII of 1989
• Proclamations Nos. II and VI of 1990
• Acts XIX of 1991
• IX of 1994
• Proclamations IV of 1995 and III of 1996
• Acts: XI of 1996, XVI of 1997
• Acts: III of 2000 and XIII of 2001

1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1965 calendar). ... 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1966 calendar). ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ... 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday. ... For the album by Ash, see 1977 (album). ... For the song by the Smashing Pumpkins, see 1979 (song). ... 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... MCMXC redirects here; for the Enigma album, see MCMXC a. ... 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by United Nations. ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Past constitutions

Malta has had numerous past constitutions.

• The 1813 Constitution^[7]
• The 1835 Constitution^[8]
• The 1849 Constitution^[9]
• The 1887 Constitution^[10]
• The 1903 Constitution^[11]
• The 1921 Constitution^[12]
• The 1936 Constitution^[13]
• The 1939 Constitution^[14]
• The 1947 Constitution^[15]
• The 1959 Constitution^[16]
• The 1961 Constitution^[17]
• The Independence Constitution^[18]

Further reading

• Frendo, Henry, The Origins of Maltese Statehood - A Case Study of Decolonization in the Mediterranean - Malta: PEG Publications, ISBN 99932 0 015 8.

See also

• Politics of Malta
• Government of Malta

Under its 1964 constitution, Malta became a parliamentary democracy within the Commonwealth. ...

Notes

1. ^ Supplement of the Government Gazette 31 October 1961 No. 11,346
2. ^ Section 2: 1961 Constitution – “The State of Malta”
3. ^ Articles 5-17: 1961 Constitution
4. ^ Article 45: 1961 Constitution
5. ^ Article 50: Malta Independence Order
6. ^ J.J. Cremona - THE MALTESE CONSTITUTION AND CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY SINCE 1813 (Publishers Enterprises Group Ltd (PEG) – 1994) ISBN: 99909-0-086-8
7. ^ Royal Instructions of July 16th 1813, (C.O. 159/4) as supplemented by despatch at pp 124-125, infra
8. ^ Cremona, J.J, The Malta Constitution of 1835 and its Historical Background (Malta, 1959), (Appendix)
9. ^ Ordinances and other Official Acts published by the Government of Malta and its Dependencies, Malta, 1853, Vol X, pp70-77
10. ^ Law, Letters Patent and other Papers in relation to the Constitution of the Council of Fovernment of Malta, Malta, G.P.O., 1889, pp 113-132
11. ^ Malta Government Gazette No. 4603, June 22, 1903, pp 614-621
12. ^ Malta Government Gazette No. 6389, May 4, 1921, pp 326-366
13. ^ Malta Government Gazette No. 8206, September 2, 1936, pp 804-812
14. ^ Malta Government Gazette No. 8534, February 25, 1939, pp 244-257
15. ^ The Malta Constitution 1947, Malta, G.P.O. 1947
16. ^ The Malta (Constitution) Order in Council 1959, Malta, Department of Information, 1959
17. ^ The Malta Constitution 1961, Malta, Department of Information, 1961
18. ^ Supplement of the Malta Government Gazette, No. 11688 of September 18th 1964

July 16 is the 197th day (198th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 168 days remaining. ... Year 1813 (MDCCCXIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar). ... June 22 is the 173rd day of the year (174th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 192 days remaining. ... 1900 (MCMIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Friday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... May 4 is the 124th day of the year (125th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1921 (MCMXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar). ... September 2 is the 245th day of the year (246th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... February 25 is the 56th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full year calendar). ... September 18 is the 261st day of the year (262nd in leap years). ...

External links

• [1] - Constitution.