Cap. 249 Art. 3Definitions.

(1) In this Act, and in any Act passed after the commencement of this Act, unless the contrary intention appears -

"Act of Parliament" means any law made by Parliament;

"amend" includes repeal, add to and vary; "Constitution" means the Constitution of Malta; "contravene" includes fail to comply with;

"document" means any matter expressed or described on any substance by means of letters, figures or marks, or by more than one of those means, intended to be used or which may be used for the purpose of recording that matter; "enactment" means a written law or any provision thereof; "function" includes power and duty;

"Gazette" means the Malta Government Gazette or any other official journal substituted therefor and published by order of the Government; "Government" means the Government of Malta;

"House" means the House of Representatives of Malta; "law" includes any instrument having the force of law and any unwritten rule of law, and "lawful" and "lawfully" shall be construed accordingly; "name" used in relation to an individual includes surname; "Parliament" means the Parliament of Malta;

"repeal" used in relation to a law includes rescind, revoke, cancel and replace;

"words" includes figures and symbols; "writing" includes printing, lithography, typewriting, photography and any other mode of representing or reproducing words in a visible form.

(2) In this Act, and in every Act passed either before or after the commencement of this Act, "Malta" means the Island of Malta, the Island of Gozo and other islands of the Maltese Archipelago, including the territorial waters thereof.

(3) A reference in an enactment, whether passed before or after the commencement of this Act, to a part, article or schedule shall, unless the contrary intention appears, be read as a reference to a part, article or schedule of that enactment; and references in any such enactment to a sub-article, paragraph or sub-paragraph shall, unless the contrary intention appears, be read as a reference to a sub-article, paragraph or sub-paragraph of the article, sub-articles or paragraph, as the case may be, in which the reference occurs.

(4) (a) Any reference in any law to ''international law'' shall be construed as a reference to international law interpreted where required in accordance with such international instruments, if any, to which Malta may from time to time be a party.

(b) Any reference in any law to Malta’s international obligations shall be construed as a reference to the obligations of Malta assumed under international law.

(c) The terms ''crimes against humanity'', ''crimes against international law'' and ''political offence'' shall have the same meaning assigned to them under customary international law in general and in international instruments to which Malta may be a party in particular.

(d) The authentic text of international instruments to which Malta may be a party shall be that which the Minister may cause to be published on an internet site in exercise of the powers conferred by article 11(a) of the Statute Law Revision Act, 1980 and the text shall be consolidated with subsequent amendments, provided that a notice be published in the Gazette giving the address of the website wherein the said treaties or other international instruments are published.

(e) For the purpose of publication of the legal instruments of the European Union to which Malta has acceded in accordance with the European Union Act, publication of the legal instruments on the Official Journal, judicial notice of which is authorised according to article 5(2) of the said European Union Act, and the official websites of the European Union shall suffice for the requirements of publication and it will not be necessary for the Minister to publish a notice to this effect with regard to all past, present or future legal instruments of the Union.