The objects and reasons of the Act No. XI of 2018 – Media and Defamation Act are the updating of the laws on defamation, the abolition of criminal libel and the introduction of a new civil remedy for slander. The Act includes various provisions which strengthen freedom of the media by seeking to avoid disproportionate restrictions on journalists in actions in libel whilst protecting the victims of libel and slander. It also encourages increased use of alternative means of dispute resolution such as the right of reply, voluntary clarifications, mediation and other practical means of avoiding libel litigation or the protraction thereof.
The Act includes consequential amendments to the Criminal Code that retain some of the criminal offences formerly provided for in the Press Act. The bill also introduces an amendment to the Code of Organisation and Civil Procedure to prohibit the issue of precautionary warrants in defamation cases. The Bill also abolishes the crime of defamation which shall henceforth only be a civil tort.
The Ordinance on Public Libraries has been in existence since 1937, as expressed in Chapter 92 of the Laws of Malta. It was amended several times between 1955 and 1981, while the Act IV of 1990 regulated the National Archives. In 2004, the Local Councils’ Public Libraries Development Committee was created, with the aim of helping to coordinate the administration of local and regional libraries. An Online Public Access Catalogue was installed in all libraries to make tracking books easier and more efficient.
In 2006, according to new legislation, the National Archives and the Public Libraries Department became two separate entities, and a National Archives Council was created for consultative reasons but was not given executive power. It has been agreed that the Councils make an annual contribution for the provision of new material.
In 2011, the Malta Libraries Act was enacted to establish a new legal entity under the responsibility of the National Librarian to ensure the collection and conservation of Malta’s documentary heritage for present and future generations, to maintain and develop Malta’s libraries and to encourage reading for study, research, self-development and lifelong-learning information and leisure purposes.
The Public Lending Rights scheme is a remuneration scheme which benefits authors, editors, translators, illustrators and photographers whose books are available to borrow from all public libraries. The scheme was introduced in 2014, and in 2021 it was widened in scope by including a remuneration for books borrowed from the University of Malta Library. As of 2025, the fund allocated €80,000 annually, and payments are issued quarterly to all subscribers. In the case of a book having more than one author, editor, translator, illustrator or photographer, payment is divided equally between the parties.
In 2024 Legal Notice 177 of 2024 on Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation Order, allowed the transposition of Directive (EU) 2024/1069 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 April 2024 on protecting persons who engage in public participation from manifestly unfounded claims or abusive court proceedings (hence, ‘Strategic lawsuits against public participation’, or SLAPP).
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