PART II - Press Offences

3. The offences mentioned in this Part of this Act are committed by means of the publication or distribution in Malta of printed matter, from whatsoever place such matter may originate, or by means of any broadcast.

4. Whosoever, by any means mentioned in section 3 of this Act, shall incite others to take away the life or the liberty of the President of Malta or of any Minister, shall for the mere incitement be liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding nine years and to a fine (multa) not exceeding five hundred liri.

5. (1) Whosoever, by any means mentioned in section 3 of this Act, shall impute ulterior motives to the acts of the President of Malta or shall insult, revile or bring into hatred or contempt or excite disaffection against, the person of the President of Malta, shall be liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months and to a fine (multa) not exceeding two hundred liri.

(2) Whosoever, by any means mentioned in section 3 of this Act, shall insult or show contempt towards the National Flag of Malta shall be liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months and to a fine (multa) not exceeding two hundred liri.

6. Whosoever, by any means mentioned in section 3 of this Act, shall threaten, insult, or expose to hatred, persecution or contempt, a person or group of persons because of their race, creed, colour, nationality, or national or ethnic origin shall be liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months and to a fine (multa).

7. Whosoever, by any means mentioned in section 3 of this Act, directly or indirectly, or by the use of equivocal expressions, shall injure public morals or decency shall be liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or to a fine (multa) or to both such imprisonment and fine.

8. Whosoever, by any means mentioned in section 3 of this Act, shall divulge any secret matter confided to him by reason of his profession or calling, shall be liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or to a fine (multa) or to both such imprisonment and fine.

9. (1) Whosoever shall maliciously, by any means mentioned in section 3 of this Act, spread false news which is likely to alarm public opinion, or disturb public good order or the public peace, or to create a commotion among the public or among certain classes of the public, shall be liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or to a fine (multa) or to both such imprisonment and fine;

Provided that, if any disturbance ensues in consequence of the offence, or if the offence has contributed to the occurrence of any disturbance, the offender shall be liable to imprisonment for a term of not less than one month but not exceeding six months and to a fine (multa).

(2) For the purposes of this section, malice shall be presumed in default of evidence showing that, prior to publication, the accused took reasonable measures to verify the truthfulness of the news.

10. Whosoever, by any means mentioned in section 3 of this Act, shall, through the omission of ordinary diligence, spread false news which is likely to alarm public opinion, or to disturb public good order or the public peace, shall be liable on conviction to a fine (multa).

11. Save as otherwise provided in this Act, whosoever shall, by any means mentioned in article 3, libel any person, shall be liable on conviction to a fine (multa).

 12. (1) In any action for a defamatory libel under section 11 of this act, the truth of the matters charged may be enquired into if the accused, in the preliminary stage of the proceedings, assumes full responsibility for the alleged libel and declares in his defence that he wishes to prove the truth of the facts attributed by him to the aggrieved party:

 Provided that the truth of the matters charged may be enquired into only if the person aggrieved:-

1. is a public officer or servant and the facts attributed to him refer to the exercise of his functions; or
2. is a candidate for a public office and the facts attributed to him refer to his honesty, ability or competency to fill that office, or
3. habitually exercises a profession, an art or a trade, and the facts attributed to him refer to the exercise of such profession, art or trade; or
4. takes an active part in politics and the facts attributed to him refer to his so taking part in politics; or
5. occupies a position of trust in a matter of general public interest;

Provided further that the truth of the matters charged may not be enquired into if such matters refer to the domestic life of the aggrieved party.

(2) Where the truth of the matters charged is enquired into in accordance with the foregoing provisions of this section -

(a) if the truth of the matters charged is substantially proved, the defendant shall not be liable to punishment if the court is satisfied that the proof of the truth has been for the public benefit and he shall be entitled to recover from the complainant or plaintiff the costs sustained by him in nay criminal or civil proceedings:

Provided that the proof of the truth of the matters charged shall not exempt the defendant from punishment for any insult, imputation or allegation which the court shall consider to have been unnecessary in attributing to the person aggrieved the facts the proof of the truth whereof shall have been allowed;

(b) if the truth of the matters charged is not substantially proved, the accused shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to a fine (multa) not exceeding five hundred liri or to both such imprisonment and fine.

12A. In proceedings instituted under this Act it shall be a defence for the editor or the publisher to prove that the information published consisted of an accurate report of a speech made at an important public event by an identified person who knew or could have reasonably known or expected that the content of that speech was to be published in a newspaper or in a broadcasting medium and that the publication of the said speech was reasonably justifiable in a democratic society.

13. Whosoever, by any means mentioned in section 3 of this Act, publishes or threatens to publish any matter touching any other person with intent to extort money or money's worth or any other advantage, shall be liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years and to a fine (multa) not exceeding five hundred liri.

14. Save as otherwise provided in this Act, whosoever shall, by any means mentioned in section 3 of this Act, directly instigate the perpetration of an offence shall, for the mere fact of such instigation, be liable ­

(a) to imprisonment for a term not exceeding eighteen months and to a fine (multa) in the case of an offence liable to a punishment higher than imprisonment for three years;

(b) to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months and to a fine (multa) in the case of an offence liable to imprisonment for a term exceeding one year but not exceeding three years;

(c) to a fine (multa) not exceeding two hundred liri or to detention in the case of any other offence.

15. Whosoever, by any means mentioned in section 3 of this Act, shall justify or excuse the perpetration of any crime shall be liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or to a fine (multa).

16. Whosoever, by any means mentioned in section 3 of this Act, shall directly incite any person to disobey the law shall, for the mere incitement, be liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months.

17. Where the instigation or incitement by any means mentioned in section 3 of this Act to commit any offence has produced its effect, the persons responsible for the instigation or incitement shall be liable to the punishment established for the offence so committed diminished by one degree.

18. If any person imports into Malta any printed matter being a copy of any matter which has previously been knowingly sent for publication abroad and in respect of which, if it had been published in Malta, such person would have been guilty of an offence under this Part of this Act, such person shall be liable to punishment as if the publication had taken place in Malta.

19. Any person who knowingly sells or offers for sale or distributes or imports for sale or distribution any printed matter whereby any offence against this Act is committed shall be deemed to be an accomplice and shall be liable to the same punishment as the principal offender.

20. (1) In the case of a conviction under section 11 of this Act, and if so requested by the injured party, the court shall in the judgement order, in the case of a newspaper that in a subsequent issue thereof not later than the next but one, and in the case of a broadcasting medium that on the day immediately following that on which judgement is given, the judgement itself or a comprehensive summary thereof be published or broadcast, as the case may require, in the same language in which the offence was committed, free of charge< and if at the time of the judgement or immediately thereafter the newspaper has ceased publication or the broadcasting medium has ceased to operate, or in the case of any other printed matter, the court shall, in the judgement or in a subsequent order, order that such summary be published or broadcast at the expense of the party convicted in another newspaper or on another medium within a period not exceeding one month.

(2) In default of compliance with any such order the party convicted shall be liable to pay to the complainant a penalty not exceeding five hundred liri.

(3) The action for the recovery of such penalty shall be exercised by the complainant before the court making the order.

21. (1) Any person whose actions or intentions have been misrepresented or who has been subjected to an attack on his honour, dignity or reputation, or to an intrusion into his private life by means of or in a newspaper or in any broadcast shall be entitled to demand and to have published forthwith, free of charge, in the same newspaper or on the same broadcasting medium, as the case may require, a statement by way of contradiction or explanation>

Provided that this section shall not apply where the misrepresentation occurs in a broadcast of a political nature which is part of a scheme approved by the Broadcasting Authority if the misrepresentation may be contradicted or explained in another broadcast which is part of the same scheme either by the person whose actions or intentions have been misrepresented or by another person entitled to take part in such other broadcast in representation of the party to which the person whose actions or intentions have been misrepresented belongs>

Provided further that no person shall be required to publish a statement by way of contradiction or explanation which is defamatory, or which is not written in the language of the newspaper, or in any of the languages used by the broadcasting medium, where it is requested that it should be published.

(2) In the case of a newspaper, a reply in terms of subsection (1) of this section shall be published as a separate article and without being interpolated with any comments or other material that does not form part of the reply, with equal prominence as the publication in respect of which the right of reply is exercised and it shall not be lawful to shorten or edit the reply in such a manner as to prejudice the effective exercise of the right of reply under this section. The said statement shall be published not later than the second issue of the newspaper following the receipt of the request>

Provided that when the right of reply is availed of in respect of a publication in a newspaper published at intervals of at least one week, the said statement shall be published in the issue immediately following the receipt of the request if such request is received at least four days before the publication of the said issue and not later than the second issue following the receipt of the request in all other cases.

(3) In the case of a broadcast, a statement in terms of subsection (1) of this section shall be broadcast not later than the second day following that on which the request is received; it shall be broadcast in a way and at the time that it reaches as much as possible the same audience and with the same prominence, and the time allowed shall be a time which is twice the time of the broadcast or part of the broadcast complained of but which is not less than ninety seconds and not more than one hundred and eighty seconds.

(4) An editor of a newspaper or the manager or other person responsible for the broadcasting medium who neglects to comply with any of the foregoing provisions of this section shall be liable on conviction to a fine (multa) of a minimum of two hundred Liri and in the case of such conviction the court shalla in its judgement make such orders upon the party convicted as it deems appropriate as to ensure respect of the right of reply granted by this section. In default of compliance with any such order the party convicted shall be liable to pay the complainant a penalty not exceeding five hundred liri which shall be enforceable by the same court.

(5) The publication of any statement as required by this section or any punishment thereunder shal not be a bar to the exercise of any other action under this Act.

(6) This section shall not apply to any publication mentioned in Section 33 of this Act in cases were no action lies under that section in respect of such publication.

(7) The right of reply under this section shall lapse if the person demanding such right shall not have claimed it within one month from the date of publication of the newspaper or of the bra\oadcast in respect of which the said right may be exercised.

22. Where any act committed by any means mentioned in section 3 of this Act constitutes in terms of the Criminal Code or of any other law an offence which is not provided for in this Act or which is pubishable with a higher punishment than that imposed by this Act, such Code or other law shall apply.