Republic of Malta

In 1926, Maltese replaced Italian as the official language under the British administration. English became a joint official language, with the same status as Maltese, since the latter is only understood and used in Malta. For the large number of tourists who visit the archipelago each year, the position of English is of more importance. 

When Malta joined the European Union in May 2004, the situation changed again. The new member state declared Maltese as its official language, thereby creating important obligations that the archipelago would find it hard to keep to in the areas of translation and interpreting and requiring a profound change of mentality.

This political decision was the end result of a slow evolution which has tended to reinforce the status of Maltese by affirming the national identity which every day is asserted more and more.

A legal framework has been in place since 1964, when Malta gained its independence. It has subsequently been enriched and diversified, most notably since 2003.

1964: Chapter I of the Constitution (adopted at the time of the proclamation of independence), Article 5 and Chapter VI, Article 74.

Maltese is defined as the official language of the Maltese State.

Legal texts will be written in Maltese and English. Any interpretation of the law will be based exclusively on the Maltese version.

Maltese and English are the two languages of use. The administration may use either as it chooses but it must respond to communications from the public in the language in which they are received.

Maltese is the only language used in courts of law.

2003: the law on the Maltese language establishes a National Maltese Language Council “to promote the national language of Malta and supply the necessary means to enable this objective to be met.”

Article 3 sets out the principles and obligations:

“Maltese is the language of Malta and a fundamental part of the national identity of the Maltese people.”

The State will take all necessary provisions to respect the integrity and status of the study and teaching of the language.

Article 4 refers to the establishment of the Maltese Language Council.

The time that has past since these changes were introduced has shown that the legislation and recommendations adopted tend to reinforce bilingualism, giving the national language an increasingly higher status with respect to the second official language, which is English. In the different domains which govern the life of the citizen, both official languages continue to be used. However, the use of Maltese is becoming more and more strongly recommended and in some cases (teaching) imposed.

For everyday products such as food items, labelling or packaging is in the language of the country in which it was made, side by side with English. The same applies to pharmaceutical products, medicines and derivatives.

There are no strict rules. Even in the Maltese language press, you may find an advertisement or a job advert written in English. The same applies to radio and TV: Maltese language channels still sometimes include advertisements in English or Italian.

The Education Act, revised in 2006, and the National Minimum Curriculum established in 1992 make it compulsory to teach both official languages, but recommend that Maltese is used to teach sociology, history, religion and civic or moral education. English is recommended for scientific and computing or communication-based subjects, referred to as TICs.

 
Work
Both official languages are used. Due to the nature of the business world, English is used more than Maltese, particularly in tourism-related fields. In public services, however, Maltese is being used more and more.

The Maltese Language Council was created in 2005, as provided in the law on the Maltese language.

Placed under the authority of the Prime Minister and the Education Minister, it has responsibility for “adopting and promoting an appropriate linguistic policy” and for the “strategy to ensure that it is carried out and respected in every sector of Maltese life.”

The Council nominates a Technical Commission and Technical Committees to develop linguistic policy in specialised domains such as specific terminology, translation, media, linguistic research, spelling, literature and developing Maltese in the TICs.

The National Ministry for Education is obliged to call a national forum on the Maltese language every three years, in which the driving force is the Council.

There are no specific provisions. Children of migrants are subject to the same obligations as the Maltese with compulsory schooling until the age of 16.

The annual budget of the Maltese Language Council is €23,000. If the Council requests additional funding for a specific project and their request has the support of both the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Finance, extra funding may be allocated. 

The Education Act and Curriculum do not constitute a restrictive legislation in this domain. Public, religious and independent schools are all free to offer as many hours’ teaching of any language other than the official languages as they wish. The National Ministry of Education coordinates the content of the curriculum for public and religious schools and the nature of examinations.

In January 2007, the National Maltese Language Council organised a seminar dedicated to setting rules on spelling – Maltese is a Semitic language and uses Latin characters – and the appearance of new words. There is more and more interchangeability between the two official languages, which threatens not only Maltese but also the nature of the English used.

(2009)