CHAPTER 445
CULTURAL HERITAGE ACT
To make provision in place of the Antiquities (Protection) Act, Cap. 54 for the superintendence, conservation and management of cultural heritage in Malta and for matters ancillary thereto or connected therewith.
3rd May, 2002; 15th August, 2002; 21st October, 2002; 1st January, 2003
ACT VI of 2002, as amended by Acts XVIII of 2002, II of 2005 and XXXII of 2007; Legal Notice 426 of 2007; and Act XXIII of 2009.
Arrangement of Act
Articles PART I Preliminary 1-3 PART II Principles and General Duties 4-6 PART III Constitution, Composition and Functions of Entities 7-16 PART IV Administrative and Personnel Provisions 17-19 PART V Financial Provisions 20-30 PART VI Conservation Professionals 31-39 PART VII Special Powers of the State 40-51 PART VIII Religious Cultural Heritage 52 PART IX Offences 53-54 PART X Regulations 55 PART XI Miscellaneous 56-57
SCHEDULE Rate of Export Duty
Short title.
Interpretation.
Amended by:
XXXII. 2007.19.
Cap. 226.
Cap. 356.
PART I
PRELIMINARY ''Agency'' means the operating agency set up under article 8;
''Centre'' means the Malta Centre for Restoration referred to in article 10;
''co-ordinate'' means exchanging views orally or in writing, before a decision or action is taken, with a view to avoiding conflicts, waste and errors or of putting a remedy thereto;
''Committee'' means the Committee of Guarantee established by article 14;
''conservation'' means any activity required to maximise the endurance or minimise the deterioration of any cultural property as far as possible, and includes examining, testing, treating, recording and preserving any such cultural property or any part thereof;
''Conservation and Protection Order'' shall have the meaning assigned to it in article 47;
''conservator-restorer'' means a professionally qualified person holding a warrant under this Act;
''contiguous zone'' has the meaning as is assigned to it by the Territorial Waters and Contiguous Zone Act;
''cultural heritage'' means movable or immovable objects of artistic, architectural, historical, archaeological, ethnographic, palaeontological and geological importance and includes information or data relative to cultural heritage pertaining to Malta
or to any other country. This includes archaeological, palaeontological or geological sites and deposits, landscapes, groups of buildings, as well as scientific collections, collections of art objects, manuscripts, books, published material, archives, audio-visual material and reproductions of any of the preceding, or collections of historical value, as well as intangible cultural assets comprising arts, traditions, customs and skills employed in the performing arts, in applied arts and in crafts and other intangible assets which have a historical, artistic or ethnographic value;
''cultural property'' means movable or immovable property forming part of the cultural heritage;
''development '' has the meaning assigned to it in the Development Planning Act;
''Entities'' means the Superintendence, the Agency, the Centre, the Committee and the Fund, and Entity shall be construed accordingly;
''exploration'' means an activity on land or at sea or in the contiguous zone, carried out with the intention of discovering new data regarding the cultural heritage and which may result in the discovery of movable or immovable items of cultural heritage value not yet documented on the national inventory of cultural property;
''financial year'' means the period of twelve months ending on the 31st December in any year:
Provided that the financial year which commenced on the 1st October, 2007 shall be for a period of fifteen months and shall terminate on the 31st December, 2008;
''Forum'' means the National Forum for Cultural Heritage established in article 15;
''function'' includes responsibilities, powers and duties;
''Fund'' means the Cultural Heritage Fund estabished by article 16;
''guardianship'' and ''guardianship deed'' shall have the meaning respectively assigned to them in article 48;
''integrated conservation'' means the whole range of measures aimed at ensuring the perpetuation of the cultural heritage, its maintenance as part of an appropriate environment, whether man-made or natural, its utilisation and its adaptation to the needs of society. Such an objective is to be achieved through the revitalisation and integration of cultural heritage within the physical environment of present-day society and by assigning a social function to such cultural heritage compatible with its dignity and its setting;
''investigation'' means any activity for the purpose of obtaining and recording any information relating to cultural heritage and includes any works for the purposes of identifying, discovering, excavating, revealing, recovering and removing any object or material situated in, on or under any cultural property;
''holder'' shall mean the person physically holding a cultural object on behalf of third parties;
''Local Council'' means a local council established under the Local Councils Act;
''Minister'' means the Minister responsible for cultural heritage, and includes, to the extent of any authority given, any person specifically authorised by the Minister for any of the purposes of this Act;
''mission'' means the purpose and objective of an organization;
''museum'' means a permanent institution in the service of society and of its development, and open to the public, which acquires, collects, conserves, researches, documentates, communicates and exhibits for the purpose of study, education and enjoyment of cultural heritage and associated information of humankind and its environment for the public benefit;
''owner'' in relation to any cultural property includes the directus dominus, the sub directus dominus, the emphyteuta, the sub emphyteuta, the bare owner and the usufructuary;
''officer'' and ''employee'' includes a public officer detailed for duty in any of the entities, committees or bodies established under
Cap. 363.
Cap. 356.
Cap. 226.
Objects to which provisions of this Act apply.
Principles and duties.
this Act;
''Planning Authority'' means the Authority established under the Development Planning Act;
''possessor'' means the person physically holding the cultural object in his own name;
''prescribed'' means prescribed under this Act;
''public officer'' has the same meaning assigned to it by article 124 of the Constitution;
''restoration'' means a highly specialised activity to conserve the integrity of cultural heritage, and to reveal its cultural values and to improve the legibility of its original state, form and design, within the limits of still existing material. Such activity must be based on a critical and historical process of evaluation and not on conjecture;
'' right of preference' ' means the right granted to the Superintendent by and in accordance with article 40;
''Superintendence'' means the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage established by article 7 and ''Superintendent'' means the Superintendent of Cultural Heritage referred to in the same article;
''surveillance'' means an activity by the Superintendence which includes an activity related to the control, direction, monitoring, regulation, investigation and recording of cultural heritage, and includes any activity in relation thereto;
''suspension notice'' has the meaning assigned to it in article 46;
''territorial waters'' has the meaning assigned to it in the Territorial Waters and Contiguous Zone Act, and includes any waters enclosed between the baselines therein mentioned and the coast;
''warrant means the warrant granted in accordance with Part VI of this Act, and warrant holder shall be construed accordingly.
3. For the purposes of this Act, an object shall not be deemed to form part of the cultural heritage unless it has existed in Malta, including the territorial waters thereof, or in any other country, for fifty years, or unless it is an object of cultural, artistic, historical, ethnographic, scientific or industrial value, even if contemporary, that is worth preserving.
PART II
PRINCIPLES AND GENERAL DUTIES
4. (1) The provisions of the following subarticles of this article and of the other articles of this Part shall not be enforceable in any court of law, however the principles therein contained are fundamental to the protection of the cultural heritage and it shall be the aim of the State to apply the same and to be guided thereby.
(2) Every citizen of Malta as well as every person present in Malta shall have the duty of protecting the cultural heritage as well as the right to benefit from this cultural heritage through learning and enjoyment. The cultural heritage is an asset of irreplaceable spiritual, cultural, social and economic value, and its protection and promotion are indispensable for a balanced and complete life. Conditions.
Priority of cultural heritage.
Superintendence.
Legal personality and judicial representation.
Appointment of Superintendent.
Functions and duties of the Superintendence.
have the duty to protect this heritage and to make it accessible for future generations and for all mankind.
5. In performing its duty the State may delegate any of the duties set out in article 4 to entities already in existence, or to other public or non-statal entities which may be established for the purpose, provided that the State shall: 6. The protection, promotion and accessibility of the cultural heritage shall be given very high priority in deciding public policy in all fields of activity in Malta.
PART III CONSTITUTION, COMPOSITION AND FUNCTIONS OF 7. (1) There shall be a Superintendence of Cultural Heritage, under the responsibility and management of the Superintendent of Cultural Heritage. The mission of the Superintendence is to fulfill the duties of the State to ensure the protection and accessibility of cultural heritage as defined in this Act. (a) to establish, update, manage and, where appropriate, publish, or to ensure the compilation of, a national inventory of cultural property belonging: Operating agency. 8. (1) There shall be an operating agency hereinafter in this Act referred to as the Agency to be called ''Heritage Malta''. The mission of the Agency is to ensure that those elements of the cultural heritage entrusted to it are protected and made accessible to the public as defined in this Act.
(2) The Agency shall be a body corporate having a distinct legal personality and shall be capable, subject to the provisions of this Act, of entering into contracts, of acquiring, holding and disposing of any kind of property for the purposes of its functions, or suing and being sued, and of doing all such things and entering into all such transactions as are incidental or conducive to the exercise or performance of its functions under this Act.
Legal and judicial (3) The legal and judicial representation of the Agency shall representation.
vest in the Chairperson, provided that the Chairperson may appoint the Chief Executive Officer or any one or more of the officers or employees of the Agency, to appear in its name and on its behalf in any judicial proceedings and on any act, contract, instrument or other document whatsoever.
Functions of (4) It shall be the function of the Agency: Agency. (5) (a) For the purpose of ensuring the better conservation, restoration, management, administration, marketing, exhibition, presentation or study of any particular part of the cultural heritage, the Agency may, with the written approval of the Minister, acting in consultation with the Superintendent, either delegate any of its functions to any existing entity or to any entity to be established, whether public or private, or a partnership thereof, as may be necessary, and in every case under such conditions as established by the superintendent and approved and published by the Minister in the Gazette, provided that whenever the delegation above-mentioned consists in an act of guardianship there shall be followed the provisions of article 48.
(b) The Agency may, where appropriate, also fulfil its (6) The Agency shall give the Superintendent all information that he may require in order to enable him to perform his functions under this Act.
9. (1) The Agency shall be governed by a Board of Directors Board of Directors. consisting of not less than five and not more than nine members, one of whom shall be the Chairperson, another the Deputy Chairperson, and a member nominated by the Minister responsible for Gozo. (7) Any member who has a direct or indirect interest in any
Malta Centre for Restoration.
Amended by”
II. 2005.50.
contract or other action made or proposed to be made by the Agency, where such interest exists, shall disclose the nature of his interest at the first meeting of the Board after the relevant facts have come to his knowledge. Such disclosure shall be recorded in the minutes of the meeting, and such member shall withdraw from any meeting while such matter is discussed or decided by the Board. 10. (1) (a) The Malta Centre for Restoration established by the Minister responsible for education together with the University of Malta is hereby re established and reconstituted as a body corporate having a distinct legal personality capable, subject to the provisions of this Act, of entering into contracts, of acquiring, holding and disposing of any kind of property for the purposes of its functions, of suing and being sued, and of doing all such things and entering into all such transactions as are incidental or conducive to the exercise or performance of its functions under this Act.
(b) The mission of the Centre is to become a centre of excellence for the teaching, training, research and practice of conservation, restoration, maintenance, management and presentation of the cultural heritage, and to provide conservation and restoration services and consultation as may be required by other bodies, both public and private.
ENTITIES
CULTURAL HERITAGE [CAP. 445. 7 denominations, (iii) to Foundations established in these islands, (iv) to physical and juridical persons when the cultural property has been made accessible to the public, or when such persons have given their consent for such a purpose; (b) to exercise surveillance over the protection, conservation, restoration, maintenance, exhibition and accesibbility of cultural property; (c) to promote research in the field of cultural heritage and to conduct excavations and other investigations which may be required so that objects or aspects of cultural heritage be discovered, cared for and appreciated; (d) to authorise excavations, as well as to monitor excavations ensuring that such excavations, their documentation and the exhibition of the results thereof follow scientific methods technology possible; and employ the best (e) to ensure that adequate documentation is kept and archived in relation to excavation, exploration and search for antiquities, the conservation of cultural property and discoveries resulting from environment impact assessments; (f) to promote and ensure the best policies, standards and practices in the conservation and presentation of artefacts, collections, museums, buildings, monuments and sites; (g) to advise and coordinate with the Planning Authority action in safeguarding cultural heritage when considering applications for planning permission relating to development affecting objects, sites, buildings or landscapes which form part of the cultural heritage; (h) to advise the Minister with regard to cooperation with other governments and international organizations in the field of the protection of the cultural heritage; (i) after consulting the Committee, to advise the Minister on the need of enforcing urgent repair or conservation works in accordance with article 42, as well as to the need for the compulsory acquisition of sites or buildings by the Government in accordance with the Land Acquisition (Public Purposes) Ordinance for the better protection of the cultural heritage; Cap. 88. (j) generally to advise the Minister on all matters relating to the cultural heritage and cultural property; (k) to perform such other functions under this or any other law as well as such other functions as the Minister may from time to time assign to it.
functions directly through its own resources.
achieve the aims of the Agency;
Agency;
bodies necessary for achieving the aims of the Agency.