/library/oar/handle/123456789/90874 Wed, 05 Nov 2025 15:38:57 GMT 2025-11-05T15:38:57Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/106389 Title: Mitigants of shell companies in Malta : a legal analysis Abstract: Shell companies are corporate entities which can be used both for legitimate and illegitimate purposes. When these shell companies indeed pose as vehicles for illegitimate uses, their effects may be felt globally due to the cooperation of a network of shell companies, as seen in the notorious event of the revelation of the Panama Papers. Nonetheless, shell companies ultimately cause damage to the state in which they are resident. The widespread effect of shell companies has led the researcher to question why such corporate entities have not yet been regulated globally, particularly in the local scene. This has consequently set the course of this dissertation to discover whether there exists Maltese legislation which mitigates the abuse of shell companies indirectly. This mitigating law shall not merely diminish the subsistence of shell companies but shall effectively and sufficiently mitigate the damaging effects of shell companies. In furtherance, the objectives shall explore the possibility of amending the law which indirectly mitigates shell companies to further adapt to them, together with the introduction of new Maltese legislation, developed directly to regulate shell companies with the aim of targeting any lacunae uncovered in current indirectly mitigating law. These objectives are pursued through interviews, which acquire practical insight as to the situation of shell companies in Malta, including encounters of shell companies in Malta, and the pinpointing of specific law which affects shell companies. This dissertation shall also provide the reader with a thorough understanding of the dynamics of a shell company, which constitute the foundations of the matters surrounding shell companies requiring mitigation, as well as their subsistence within the Maltese domain. The examination of such matters together with the application of the law shall reveal whether amendments and introduction of the law is necessary to mitigate effectively and sufficiently shell companies in Malta. Description: LL.B.(Hons)(Melit.) Sat, 01 Jan 2022 00:00:00 GMT /library/oar/handle/123456789/106389 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/106388 Title: The sphere of application of the rules of natural justice in terms of Article 469A of Chapter 12 of the laws of Malta Abstract: This Dissertation seeks to find the sphere of application of the principles of natural justice in the context of Article 469A of the Code of Organisation and Civil Procedure. The foundation of these principles, ‘audi alteram partem’ and ‘nemo judex in causa propria’, have been incorporated into our law from Common Law and have extended and evolved into other principles and a larger sphere of application. This write-up will delve into this expansion and this shall be done through an examination of the current laws, landmark cases from Common Law and Maltese Law, and recent cases from local jurisprudence. Examining current laws on the rules of natural justice presents us with one issue: lack of definition and guidance. While Article 469A (1) (b) (ii) merely mentions such principles, therefore lacking both definition and guidance, Article 3 of Chapter 490 ‘Administrative Justice Act’ defines the principles of ‘good administrative behaviour’. It is imperative to note that the definitions of Chapter 490 only aid the lack of definition in article 469A and not its sphere of application, as the Administrative Justice Act only applies to Tribunals and not administrative bodies. Looking into the Landmark cases emerging from Common Law and Maltese Law, one can see the gradual transition of the application of the rules of natural justice from strictness to a more liberal application. This leads us to the current sphere of application as we analyse very recent cases to try and discover the boundaries of the sphere of application, if the courts have a common ideology of such sphere of application and if such sphere has expanded too much or if it indeed needs even more development. Description: LL.B.(Hons)(Melit.) Sat, 01 Jan 2022 00:00:00 GMT /library/oar/handle/123456789/106388 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/106387 Title: The foreshore : a ‘res probabiliter in commercium’? Abstract: Prior to the enactment of the Public Domain Act, Act XXV of 2016 amending the Civil Code of Malta, the foreshore, defined by the 1917 judgement of Lapira vs Canonico Capitolare Monsignor Giuseppe Caruana Dingli et as the land which the highest wave of the tide covers in the Winter, was considered as land in the public domain which was extra commercium, making it unable to be acquired commercially or for any other scope. With time, this notion has been loosened to the extent that the new Act now permits for persons to acquire the foreshore by the main means of concession and administrative permit, and even sets up a system whereby these land owners must register their rights within the Public Registry. Nevertheless, the Act falls short of describing the extent to which rights acquired over the foreshore prior to 2016 may be regulated. This study therefore analyses the main institutes found in both Civil and Public law, inter alia, which could lend to a possible hypothesis in answer of the query as to whether private rights may include more special limitations when it comes to their exercise when public rights, such as the right of access to the foreshore, are also at stake. The author shall aim to explore possible caveats to the right of absolute ownership as enunciated by article 320 of the Civil Code, Chapter 16 of the Laws of Malta, especially those rights of ownership acquired prior to 2016 through a thorough analysis of Maltese jurisprudence on Civil and Public matters to related to such merit. Description: LL.B.(Hons)(Melit.) Sat, 01 Jan 2022 00:00:00 GMT /library/oar/handle/123456789/106387 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/106385 Title: The Samaritan’s dilemma and the duty to rescue under Maltese law Abstract: Nothing in this world is quite as precious as human life and the law at best should be aimed at actively preserving it and at worst should not discourage anyone conscientious enough to put all else aside to try and protect it. This is precisely the subject matter of this thesis, an analysis on how Maltese law deals with the duty to rescue on the one hand and the newly promulgated Good Samaritan Law on the other. Malta does not have a general duty to rescue and before Act XXIX of 2020, which introduced what is commonly known as the Good Samaritan Law, the good soul, personified in the fictional Samaritan, who voluntarily and gratuitously lent a helping hand, was held liable for damages caused both to the person or property of the person rescued as well as to those of third parties. This piece of legislation thus filled in a lacuna much to the benefit of conscientious rescuers. In this study the author first examines the position of the rescuer under the various legal systems as well as the situation in Malta prior to the enactment of the said Act. Against this background, the limelight is then shifted on domestic legislation, particularly the Merchant Shipping Act with regards to the duty to rescue and to the Maltese Civil Code where the Good Samaritan Principle was introduced under Article 1033A. An analysis of various quasi-contracts including ‘negotiorum gestio’ which deals with the managing of the affairs of another, were examined alongside Maltese judgements and parliamentary debates to try and understand why the need for the enactment of the Good Samaritan law was felt, how the protections it affords the rescuer were not previously found under the laws available prior to its promulgation and whether the aims it set out to achieve have been reached. In conclusion the author mulls overs queries that still exist and hints at ways the present law can be bettered. Description: LL.B.(Hons)(Melit.) Sat, 01 Jan 2022 00:00:00 GMT /library/oar/handle/123456789/106385 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z