S.L. 342.1 Art. 16Qualification requirements.

(1) In order to qualify for the grant of a licence to act as an auctioneer, a person shall -

(a) be not less than eighteen years old; and

(b) be of good moral character and not have within the last three years been convicted of a criminal act relating to fraud or misappropriation of money or other articles.

(2) In addition to meeting the conditions of sub-regulation (1), the applicant must also satisfy the Board of his knowledge of:

(a) national auctioneering legislation and procedure;

(b) national laws and regulations relating to antiques and cultural heritage; and

(c) relevant general commercial practice: Provided that paragraph (b) shall not be applicable to applicants who declare that they will not be providing their services in the auctioning of antiques.

(3) Applications for a licence to act as an auctioneer shall be submitted to the regulatory authority as determined under the Trading Licences Act, subject to any exemptions and under conditions which may be applicable under the Act. The application shall be accompanied by a good conduct certificate issued by the Commissioner of Police. If the applicant fulfils the condition of sub-regulation (1) the regulatory authority shall notify the Board of the application within ten working days.

(4) The Board shall interview the applicant and inform the regulatory authority of its decision within three months from the date of being notified. Where duly motivated, this period may be extended by a further month provided that the applicant is duly informed of such extension. Decisions of the Board shall be fully reasoned and shall be subject to appeal before the Administrative Review Tribunal established by article 5(1) of the Administrative Justice Act.

(5) The regulatory authority shall within ten days from receiving notification of the Board’s decision issue a licence or a notice of refusal as the case may be.

(6) Where a person is already licensed or otherwise legally established to carry on auctioning activities in another Member State, and that person wishes to carry out such activities in Malta on a non-permanent basis, he shall not be required to apply for a licence but only to notify the regulatory authority as provided in the Trading Licences Act: Provided that where a person who is already licensed or otherwise legally established to carry on auctioning activities in another Member State, carries out auctioning activities in Malta that person shall still be required to comply with regulations 3 to 15.