The Government, by order of the Superintendent of Public Health, has introduced three legal notices which enforce the closing of law courts, the suspending of legal and judicial times during the current COVI D-19 pandemic:

The Legal Notices are summarized as followed:

L.N. 65 of 2020 – Closure of the Courts of Justice Order, 2020. 
The Courts and the Court’s registry, together with all Tribunals, with effect from the 16th of March, 2020, have been closed until such order is repealed by the Superintendent of Public Health. All cases will be deferred to a later date.

L.N. 61 of 2020 – Epidemics and Infectious Disease (Suspension of Legal and Judicial Times) Order, 2020.

This legal notice suspends the running of all legal and judicial times and of any other time limits with effect from the 16th of March, including peremptory periods applicable to proceedings or other procedures before the Courts, while the Courts and the Court’s registry remain closed. The suspension shall last until seven (7) days when Legal Notice 65 of 2020 (explained above) has been repealed and thus when the Courts and the Court’s registry have reopened. 

L.N. 75 of 2020 – Suspension of Legal Times relating to Promise of Sale Agreements, Notarial and other related matters (Epidemics and Infectious Disease) Order, 2020.

This order, with effect from the 16th of March, brings into effect the suspension of the lapse of time on the following:
(i) all legal terms imposed on a notary public by law to register any deed, will, act or private writing or any period within which the notary public, in terms of any applicable law, must pay taxes collected by him in the exercise of his profession;
(ii) any term related to fiscal benefits, incentives or exemptions or any period within which a notary public is to submit any information or documentation to any authority or regulator pursuant to relevant notarial activity; and
(iii) any expiration term in any promise of sale agreement (konvenju) duly registered in terms of law with the Commissioner of Revenue within the period established by law. This suspension mechanism shall also apply to “any term in any promise of sale agreement” which includes bank loans, planning permits and any other conditions which must be actioned in terms of the promise of sale agreement.

​The above terms stipulated in this legal notice shall be automatically suspended, without the need of any signatures or formal renewals by the parties, during such time until L.N. 65 of 2020 (Closure of the Courts of Justice Order, 2020) remains in force and the suspension shall last until twenty (20) days following the repeal of L.N. 65 of 2020.

This effectively means that if the term of a promise of sale agreement (konvenju) expires after the 16th of March 2020 and during the days which the Court and its registry remain closed, that term is suspended and will start to run again from the day the order of closure is repealed and for an additional twenty (20) days after such date.

Please direct all your queries to [email protected]

This Article is made available by FSGM.Partners for educational purposes. It provides general information and a general understanding of the law, but does not provide specific legal advice. By using this site, commenting on posts, or sending inquiries through the site or contact email, you confirm that there is no attorney-client relationship between you and the Blog/Web Site publisher. The Blog/Web Site should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from your legal adviser. ​

Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights dictates the fundamental human right of respect for private and family life i.e. the right to privacy. Given the technological and medical advances in our global society, many have seen the increase in exercise of this human right, as the greater the steps in technology, unfortunately the greater the potential breaches to privacy.
 
Article 8 states that “everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence”. This being a fundamental human right, it carries immense weight and is indeed one of the first provisions of law resorted to, worldwide, in cases of breaches of privacy. Furthermore, with the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation in May of 2018, a greater emphasis has been made onto the privacy and data protection rights of the individual, resulting in individuals or data subjects in the European Union and their rights being protected from a wide variety of potential data attacks. But, despite the great importance of the existence of such rights, including fundamental human rights, they are not absolute.
 
The world is currently amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. With numerous governments around the globe implementing safety measures and procedures to counteract such a pandemic, such as the urge from governments to disclose potential patients of the virus, one may state that individuals’ personal data is at stake. And they would be right.
 
The crux of the matter is this: when one is aware of an individual who has (unfortunately) contracted COVID-19, are you bound by law to respect that individual’s right to privacy and keep silent? Or are you, on the other hand, bound by law to disclose such information to the relevant authorities?
 
As stated above, human rights are not absolute and here’s why. The same Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights goes on to state that “there shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right except such as is in accordance with the law and is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, public safety or the economic well-being of the country, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others”. This means that whenever the interests of national security, public safety, the protection of health, and the protection of the rights and freedoms of others supersede the right to privacy of the infected individual, as is the current case in Malta with COVID-19, where the prevention of the spread of the pandemic is of higher importance than the right of privacy of the infected individual, then yes, the law allows for the disclosure of such patient information.
 
The General Data Protection Regulation further supports this argument, as Article 9 of the same prohibits the processing of special categories of an individual’s personal data, including health data. Yet, once again, this right is not absolute as Article 9 goes on to list the exceptions of such right, more specifically Article 9(2)(g),(h) and (i), which state that the processing, which includes the disclosure, of such health data pertaining to COVID-19 patients, is not prohibited where:
 
“processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest, on the basis of Union or Member State law which shall be proportionate to the aim pursued, respect the essence of the right to data protection and provide for suitable and specific measures to safeguard the fundamental rights and the interests of the data subject”;
 
“processing is necessary for the purposes of preventive or occupational medicine, for the assessment of the working capacity of the employee, medical diagnosis, the provision of health or social care or treatment or the management of health or social care systems and services on the basis of Union or Member State law or pursuant to contract with a health professional and subject to the conditions and safeguards referred to in paragraph 3”;
 
“processing is necessary for reasons of public interest in the area of public health, such as protecting against serious cross-border threats to health or ensuring high standards of quality and safety of health care and of medicinal products or medical devices, on the basis of Union or Member State law which provides for suitable and specific measures to safeguard the rights and freedoms of the data subject, in particular professional secrecy”;
 
Therefore, even the General Data Protection Regulation caters for such instances such as the current one present in Malta due to COVID-19. Normally, the individual or data subject cannot have its health data disclosed by other individuals or entities, yet in exceptional cases such as the present one due to COVID-19, “for reasons of public interest in the area of public health, such as protecting against serious cross-border threats to health”, the disclosure of such health data pertaining to affected individuals to the relevant authorities once again supersedes the right of the COVID patient to privacy. 

Please direct all your queries to [email protected] 

This Article is made available by FSGM.Partners for educational purposes. It provides general information and a general understanding of the law, but does not provide specific legal advice. By using this site, commenting on posts, or sending inquiries through the site or contact email, you confirm that there is no attorney-client relationship between you and the Blog/Web Site publisher. The Blog/Web Site should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from your legal adviser. 

Full time employees of enterprises operating in sectors that suffered drastically due to the COVID-19 pandemic or had to temporarily suspend operations on the order of the Superintendent of Public Health will be entitled to up to five days’ salary based on a monthly wage of €800. This includes all self-employed. Part-time employees will be eligible up to €500 per month. Click here for a list of sectors by NACE.

Full time employees of enterprises in other adversely affected sectors including wholesale, manufacturing and warehousing will be entitled to one days’ salary per month. Part-time employees will be eligible to one day’s salary per week, equivalent to €100 per month. In the case of Gozo based enterprises this will increase to two days’ salary per week equivalent to €320 per month for full time employees, and €200 per month for part time employees. Click here for a list of sectors by NACE.

In case of self-employed in other adversely affected sectors who have employees will be entitled to two-days’ salary per week equivalent to €320 per month.

Self-employed based in Gozo operating in other adversely affected sectors will be entitled to 2 days’ salary per week equivalent to €320 per month. This will increase to 3 days salary, equivalent to €480, for those self-employed who employ staff, and the employees will be entitled to two days’ salary per week. 

​Please direct all your queries to [email protected] 

This Article is made available by FSGM.Partners for educational purposes. It provides general information and a general understanding of the law, but does not provide specific legal advice. By using this site, commenting on posts, or sending inquiries through the site or contact email, you confirm that there is no attorney-client relationship between you and the Blog/Web Site publisher. The Blog/Web Site should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from your legal adviser. 

The Government has launched to following incentives for businesses affected by Covid-19.

• Fiscal assistance – Postponement of payment of certain taxes
• Facilitation of Teleworking activities
• Quarantine Leave scheme

1. Fiscal assistance – Postponement of payment of certain taxes
This incentive gives a two-month extension to enterprises, including self-employed, to pay Provisional Tax, VAT and National Insurance Contribution on Salaries. This will apply for taxes owed till end of April.
All tax forms should be submitted according to normal deadlines. The incentive is primarily aimed, but not limited to, the tourism and hospitality, entertainment, transport and manufacturing sectors that are being affected by COVID-19.

Application is to be made not later than 15th April 2020. Click here for full guidelines

​2. Facilitation of Teleworking activities
This call supports Employers/ Self-employed to invest in technology that enables teleworking and to partially cover the costs of teleworking solutions. Support shall be limited up to €500 per teleworking agreement and €4,000 per undertaking.

The grant shall be awarded against 45% of the eligible cost. This call is eligible for costs incurred between 1st March and 30th March 2020. Total support under this call shall be capped at €2M.

This call closes on 30th March 2020 and full details can be found here.

3. Quarantine Leave scheme
€350 grant to employers for each employee on Quarantine leave. Application will be online from Wednesday 25th March
More details regarding applications and guidelines to follow.

Please direct all your queries to [email protected] 

This Article is made available by FSGM.Partners for educational purposes. It provides general information and a general understanding of the law, but does not provide specific legal advice. By using this site, commenting on posts, or sending inquiries through the site or contact email, you confirm that there is no attorney-client relationship between you and the Blog/Web Site publisher. The Blog/Web Site should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from your legal adviser.