Cap. 104 Art. 2Interpretation.

In this Ordinance, unless the context otherwise requires, the following expressions shall have the meanings in this article respectively assigned to them:

"authorized insurer" means an undertaking which has received its official authorisation in Malta for the taking-up of business of direct insurance and which conducts the business of compulsory third party liability insurance in respect of the use of motor vehicles; "designated State" means a State listed as such by regulations made by the Minister responsible for transport; "driver", where a separate person acts as steersman of a motor vehicle, includes that person as well as any other person engaged in the driving of the vehicle, and the expression "drive" shall be construed accordingly;

"establishment" in relation to an insurance undertaking means the head office, an agency or branch and includes any permanent presence of an undertaking in the territory of Malta or a designated State, even if that presence does not take the form of a branch or agency, but consists of an office managed by the undertaking’s own staff or by an independent person who has authority to act for and on behalf of the undertaking; "foreign bureau" means a central organization set up by motor insurers in any country outside Malta for the purpose of giving effect to international arrangements for the insurance of motorists against third-party risks, and with which the local bureau has entered into such an arrangement; "green card system" means the international third party motor insurance system based on the Uniform Agreement between bureaux and the Multilateral Guarantee Agreement and such other agreement which may come into force from time to time; direct insurance in Malta or in the territory of a designated State and which conducts the business of compulsory third party liability insurance in respect of the use of motor vehicles; "international certificate of insurance" means a duly completed international certificate of insurance (known as a "Green Card") issued on behalf of a foreign bureau or the local bureau in the form set out in the recommendation dated June 1952 made by the Sub-Committee on Road Transport of the Inland Transport Committee of the Economic Commission for Europe, as from time to time amended; "local bureau" means the central organization set up by motor insurers in Malta for the purpose of giving effect to international arrangements for the insurance of motorists against third-party risks, and which is recognised for the purposes of this Ordinance by the Minister responsible for transport; "Malta" has the same meaning as is assigned to it in article 124 of the Constitution; "Malta’s international commitments" means Malta’s commitments, responsibilities and obligations arising out of membership of or affiliation to or relationship with any international global or regional organisation or grouping of countries or out of any treaty, convention or other international agreement however called, whether bilateral or multilateral, to which Malta is a party;

"motor vehicle" means any vehicle intended for travel on land and propelled by mechanical power, but not running on rails, and any trailer, whether or not coupled; "Multilateral Guarantee Agreement" means the Multilateral Guarantee Agreement between national insurers’ bureaux of 15 March 1991, as from time to time amended, supplemented or replaced;

"owner", in relation to a vehicle which is the subject of a hiring agreement or a hire-purchase agreement, means the person in possession of the vehicle under that agreement; "policy of insurance" means a policy of insurance or a covering note which is issued by an authorised insurer and includes an international certificate of insurance; "prescribed" means prescribed by regulations; "Protection and Compensation Fund" means the Protection and Compensation Fund established under article 49 of the Insurance Business Act; "Authority for Transport in Malta" means the Authority for Transport in Malta established under the Authority for Transport in

Malta Act; "territory in which the motor vehicle is normally based" means -

(i) the territory of the State of which the motor vehicle bears the registration plate, irrespective of whether the plate is permanent or temporary; or

(ii) in cases where no registration is required for a type of motor vehicle but the vehicle bears an insurance plate, or a distinguishing sign analogous to the registration plate, the territory of the State in which the insurance plate or the sign is issued; or

(iii) in cases where neither registration plate nor insurance plate nor distinguishing sign is required for certain types of motor vehicle, the territory of the State in which the person who has custody of the vehicle is permanently resident;

(iv) in cases where the vehicle does not bear any registration plate or bears a registration plate which does not correspond or no longer corresponds to the vehicle and has been involved in an accident, the territory of the State in which the accident took place, for the purposes of settling the claim pursuant to articles 4 and 9D; and "motor vehicle which is normally based in Malta" shall be interpreted accordingly; "third country" means a State other than Malta and which is not a designated State.