Chapter 445 of the Laws of Malta, the Cultural Heritage Act, defines cultural heritage as 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.
Anyone who is present in Malta is duty bound to protect the cultural heritage as well as the right to benefit from it through learning and enjoyment. The duty to protect includes conservation, maintenance and the duty to intervene in circumstances of misuse, lack of conservation or application of wrong conservation methods. Such duty to protect also includes the duty to encourage the sustainable use and maintenance of the cultural heritage resource.
The State has the power to delegate any of the duties for the protection of the cultural heritage to any entities already in existence, or to other public or non-statal entities which may be established for the purpose. Nonetheless, the State has to publish the conditions under which such delegation is given, reserve the public ownership of all that is delegated and reserve the right of superintendence. Such superintendence shall be appointed by the Minister under the terms and conditions written in his letter of appointment.
The Superintendent of Cultural Heritage may put forward his approval for various buildings and sites to be scheduled for conservation. No person shall make any interventions on such cultural property without a permit issued by such superintendent. In the grant of such permit, the superintendent may impose such conditions as he may consider appropriate; including requirements whereby the work and the various phases thereof be photographed or otherwise documented or recorded, that a report on the work be delivered to the superintendent at such times as may be stated in the permit. The Superintendent shall demand an inspection to be carried out in cases of reported discoveries of cultural property in order to establish whether preservation or excavation works are required.
This shall not be construed to be as advice but shall merely serve as a brief description of how our law ensures cultural heritage preservation. If you would like to get to know more about this, please do not hesitate to contact us on [email protected].