Update – Covid-19 And Arbitration Proceedings

UPDATE: Legal Notice 97 of 2020, entitled 'Closure of the Courts of Justice (Amendment) Order, 2020' has been published in recent days in an attempt to clarify the uncertainty surrounding the original Order. The definition "court" has now been substituted with the term "designated court" and has been specifically defined to include any court, board, commission, committee, tribunal or other entity which operates from the building of the Courts of Justice, specifically (a) the Industrial Tribunal; (b) the Employment Commission; (c) the Committee of Inquiry (Deprivation of Citizenship); (d) the Partition of Inheritances Tribunal; and (e) the Information and Data Protection Appeals Tribunal. The Malta Arbitration Centre is, thus, clearly excluded, notwithstanding the fact that a significant number of arbitral proceedings are in fact heard within the main building of the Maltese Courts of Justice in Valletta, while others are heard at the Malta Arbitration Centre building.