CHAPTER IX
Finance
Finance
Consolidated
Fund.
102.
(1) All revenues and other moneys
raised or received by
Malta (not being revenues or other
moneys payable into some other
fund, being a fund established by or
under any law for the time
being in force in Malta for a
specific purpose) shall, unless
Parliament otherwise provides, be
paid into and form one
Consolidated Fund.
(2) No moneys shall be withdrawn from
the Consolidated Fund
except to meet expenditure that is
charged upon the Fund by this
Constitution or any other law for the
time being in force in Malta or
where the issue of those moneys has
been authorised by an
58 CONSTITUTION OF MALTA
Appropriation Act or under article
104 of this Constitution.
(3) No moneys shall be withdrawn from
any public fund other
than the Consolidated Fund unless the
issue of those moneys has
been authorised by or under any law
for the time being in force in
Malta.
(4) No moneys shall be withdrawn from
the Consolidated Fund
or any other public fund except in
the manner prescribed by or
under any law.
(5) The costs, charges and expenses
incidental to the collection
and management of the Consolidated
Fund shall be a charge on the
Fund.
Authorisation of
expenditure from
Consolidated
Fund.
103.
(1) The Minister responsible for
finance shall cause to be
prepared and laid before the House of
Representatives before, or
not later than thirty days after, the
commencement of each financial
year estimates of the revenues and
expenditure of Malta for that
year.
(2) The heads of expenditure
contained in the estimates (other
than the expenditure charged upon the
Consolidated Fund by this
Constitution or any other law for the
time being in force in Malta)
shall be included in a bill, to be
known as an appropriation bill,
providing for the issue from the
Consolidated Fund of the sums
necessary to meet that expenditure
and the appropriation of those
sums for the purposes specified
therein.
(3) If in respect of any financial
year it is found -
(a) that the amount
appropriated by the Appropriation Act
for any purpose is insufficient, or
that a need has
arisen for expenditure for a purpose
for which no
amount has been appropriated by that
Act; or
(b) that any moneys have been
expended for any purpose
in excess of the amount (if any)
appropriated for the
purpose by that Act,
a supplementary estimate showing the
sums required or spent shall
be laid before the House of
Representatives and the heads of any
such expenditure shall be included in
a supplementary
appropriation bill.
Authorisation of
expenditure before
appropriation.
104.
Parliament may make provision under
which, if the
Appropriation Act in respect of any
financial year has not come
into operation by the beginning of
that financial year, the Minister
responsible for finance may authorise
the withdrawal of moneys
from the Consolidated Fund for the
purpose of meeting such
expenditure as he may consider
necessary to carry on the
government of Malta until the
expiration of four months from the
beginning of that financial year or
the coming into operation of the
Act, whichever is the earlier.
Contingencies
Fund.
105.
(1) Parliament may provide for the
establishment of a
Contingencies Fund and for
authorising the Minister responsible
for finance, if he is satisfied that
there has arisen an urgent and
unforeseen need for expenditure for
which no other provision
CONSTITUTION OF MALTA
59
exists, to make advances from that
Fund to meet that need.
(2) Where any advance is made in
accordance with sub-article
(1) of this article a supplementary
estimate shall be presented and a
supplementary appropriation bill
shall be introduced as soon as
practicable for the purpose of
replacing the amount so advanced.
Public debt.
106.
(1) The public debt of Malta shall be
a charge upon the
Consolidated Fund and other public
funds of Malta.
(2) In this article references to the
public debt of Malta include
references to the interest on that
debt, sinking fund payments and
redemption moneys in respect of that
debt and the costs, charges
and expenses incidental to the
management of that debt.
Remuneration in
respect of certain
offices.
Amended by:
LVIII. 1974.52;
XVI. 1997.2.
107.
(1) There shall be paid to the
holders of the offices to
which this article applies such
salaries as may be prescribed by or
under any law.
(2) The salaries and any allowances
payable to the holders of
the offices to which this article
applies shall be a charge on the
Consolidated Fund.
(3) The salary payable to the holder
of any office to which this
article applies and his terms of
office, other than allowances, shall
not be altered to his disadvantage
after his appointment, and for the
purposes of this sub-article, in so
far as the salary or the terms of
service of any person depend upon the
option of that person, the
salary or terms for which he opts
shall be deemed to be more
advantageous to him than any others
for which he might have
opted.
(4) This article applies to the
offices referred to in articles 48,
91, 95(6), 100, 109, 118 and 120 of
the Constitution.
Auditor General.
Amended by:
LVIII. 1974.53.
Substituted by:
XVI. 1997.3.
108.
(1) There shall be an Auditor General
whose office shall
be a public office who shall have the
functions as provided in the
following provisions of this article.
(2) The Auditor General shall be an
officer of the House of
Representatives and shall be
appointed by the President acting in
accordance with a resolution of the
House of Representatives
supported by the votes of not less
than two-thirds of all the
members in the House:
Provided that when a person who is
not a member of the
House of Representatives is elected
to be the Speaker of the House
of Representatives, he shall not be
treated as a member of the
House for the purpose of establishing
the majority required by this
sub-article.
(3) (a) Subject to the
provisions of sub-article (4) of this
article the Auditor General shall
hold office for a
period of five years from the date of
his appointment
and shall be eligible for
reappointment for one further
period of five years.
(b) Where the Auditor General
has been appointed from
among public officers and at the end
of his
60 CONSTITUTION OF MALTA
appointment is below the retiring age
in the public
service, the person so appointed
shall revert to the
public service and shall continue to
enjoy the salary
and allowances referred to in
sub-article (6).
(c) It shall not be lawful for
the Auditor General, during
his tenure of such office, to hold
any other office of
profit or otherwise with the
Government of Malta or
with any commercial or professional
venture
whatsoever.
(4) (a) The Auditor General
may at any time be removed or
suspended from his office by the
President, upon an
address from the House of
Representatives supported
by the votes of not less than
two-thirds of all members
in the House, praying for such
removal on the ground
of proved inability to perform the
functions of his
office (whether arising from
infirmity of body or mind
or any other cause) or proved
misbehaviour, and the
provisions of paragraph (a) of
the proviso to subarticle
(2) of this article shall also apply
for the
purpose of establishing the majority
required under
this sub-article.
(b) At any time when
Parliament is not in session, the
Auditor General may be suspended from
his office by
the President, acting in accordance
with his own
deliberate judgement, for inability
to perform the
functions of his office or
misbehaviour proved to the
satisfaction of the President; but
any such suspension
shall not continue in force beyond
two months after
the beginning of the next session of
Parliament.
(5) The accounts -
(a) of all departments and
offices of the Government of
Malta, including the office of the
Public Service
Commission, and the office of the
Clerk of the House
of Representatives and of all
Superior and Inferior
Courts of Malta, and
(b) of such other public
authorities or other bodies
administering, holding, or using
funds belonging
directly or indirectly to the
Government of Malta as
may be prescribed by or under any law
for the time
being in force in Malta,
shall be audited and reported upon
annually by the Auditor General
to the House of Representatives and
for that purpose the Auditor
General or any person authorised by
him in that behalf shall have
access to all books, records, returns
and other documents relating to
those accounts.
(6) (a) There shall be paid to
the Auditor General such salary
and such allowances as may from time
to time be
prescribed or allowed for a Judge of
the Superior
Courts.
(b) Such salary and allowances
shall be a charge on the
CONSTITUTION OF MALTA
61
Consolidated Fund and the provisions
of sub-article
(3) of article 107 of the
Constitution shall apply to
such salary.
(7) The Auditor General shall not
enter upon the duties of his
office unless he has taken and
subscribed before the President the
oath of allegiance and such oath for
the due execution of his office
as may be prescribed by any law for
the time being in force in
Malta.
(8) Parliament may by law from time
to time provide for the
manner in which the reports of the
Auditor General shall be made.
Deputy Auditor
General.
(9) (a) There shall also be a
Deputy Auditor General whose
office shall be a public office and
who shall have such
functions as the Auditor General may
from time to
time delegate to him and who shall,
whenever the
office of Auditor General is
temporarily vacant, and
until a new Auditor General is
appointed, and
whenever the holder of the office is
absent from Malta
or on vacation or is for any reason
unable to perform
the functions of his office, perform
the functions of
Auditor General.
(b) The provisions of
sub-article (2), paragraphs (a) and
(c) of sub-article (3),
sub-article (4), paragraph (b) of
sub-article (6) and sub-article (7)
of this article shall
apply to the Deputy Auditor General.
(c) There shall be paid to the
Deputy Auditor General
such salary and such allowances as
may from time to
time be prescribed or allowed to a
Magistrate of the
Inferior Courts.
(d) Where the Deputy Auditor
General has been appointed
from among public officers and at the
end of his
appointment is below the retiring age
in the public
service, the person so appointed
shall revert to the
public service and shall continue to
enjoy the salary
and allowances referred to in this
sub-article.
National Audit
Office
(10) (a) There shall be a
National Audit Office consisting of
the Auditor General, who shall be the
head of that
office, the Deputy Auditor General
and such other
officers, appointed by the Auditor
General, as the
Auditor General may consider
necessary to assist him
i n t h e p r o p e r d i s c h a r g
e o f h i s o f f i c e , a n d t h e
provisions of article 110 of this
Constitution shall not
apply to the officers appointed to
the National Audit
Office.
(b) Parliament may from time
to time by law provide for
the manner in which funds shall be
allocated to the
National Audit Office and in the
manner whereby the
accounts of the National Audit Office
shall be audited
and reported upon.
(11) Nothing in this article shall be
construed as precluding the
grant of any other functions or
powers on the Auditor General or
62 CONSTITUTION OF MALTA
the National Audit Office by or under
any law for the time being in
force.
(12) In the exercise of their
functions under the Constitution the
Auditor General and the Deputy
Auditor General shall not be
subject to the authority or control
of any person.".
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Index of the Constitution of Malta
See also:
Constitution of Malta Act, 1964
