Cap. 125 Art. 3Power to requisition, effects and enforcement.

(1) If it appears to the Director of Social Housing to be necessary or expedient so to do in the public interest, but only for the purpose of providing living accommodation to persons or of ensuring a fair distribution of such living accommodation, he may requisition any building, and may give such directions as appear to him to be necessary or expedient in order that the requisition may be put into effect and complied with.

(2) A requisition order made under subarticle (1) shall be served on the person entitled to the immediate occupation of the building requisitioned, or his agent or representative, and where the building, is held by the occupant on lease, or on a temporary occupancy, belongs to more than one person, service of the requisition order on any one of such persons shall, in respect of the title held in common with others, have effect as if it had been served also on all such other persons.

(3) Where, after the exercise of due diligence, any person on whom a requisition order is to be served, or his agent or representative, cannot be found, or if found refuses to accept the order, the requisition order shall be deemed to have been validly served on such person, and on such other persons as would have been deemed to be served with the order had it been served on such persons, if notice of the order is given in the Government Gazette and in not less than three daily newspapers published in Malta.

(4) A requisition order made and served in accordance with the provisions of this article shall operate and have full effect against all persons and shall remain so operative and effective until the building is derequisitioned.

(5) Any police officer not below the rank of sergeant may, on instructions from the Director, take such steps and use such force as appear to him to be reasonably necessary for securing compliance with directions given to any person under the provisions of this article or of article 9 requiring him to give up possession of the building:

Provided that the Director shall not give such instructions as aforesaid except in cases connected with reconstruction or with replanning, or with mass evacuation, or in the case of unauthorized occupation, or in other cases which the Director deems urgent, and except so far as they are reasonably justifiable in a democratic society.

(6) Where a building requisitioned under this article is vacated and belongs in absolute ownership or on emphyteusis to a person who proves to the satisfaction of the Director that he intends to take possession of the building to establish therein his ordinary residence or that of any of his children, the Director shall allocate the building to such person, or any of his children aforesaid, as the case may require; and if such ordinary residence is in fact so established within six months from the date of the allocation, or such later date as the Director may for a good reason allow, and continues for a period of not less than two years, the Director shall, if he is so requested, derequisition the building.

(7) Where a requisition order has been made, and the requisitionee shows to the satisfaction of the Director that he is unable to procure transport for the removal of, or alternative storage place for, the furniture or other articles existing in the building requisitioned, it shall be the duty of the Director to provide such means of transport and alternative storage place as may be required, without prejudice to the provisions contained in subarticle (9). he may think fit for the removal and storage of the furniture or articles existing in the building:

Provided that before such removal an inventory of the furniture or articles aforesaid shall be made and signed by the Director or his representative in the presence of a Police officer not below the rank of sergeant, who shall also affix his signature to the inventory.

(9) In every case where the transport or storage place of furniture or articles is provided by the Director under this article, such furniture or articles shall, during transport and storage, remain at the sole risk of the owner thereof and, in respect of storage, likewise at his charge; and no compensation shall be payable in respect of any deficiency therein or damage thereto if it is proved that such deficiency or damage was not caused by negligence on the part of the Director or persons acting on his instructions.

(10) While a building is in the possession of the Director by virtue of this Act, the building may be used only for the purposes set out in subarticle (1), but, save as aforesaid, the Director, so far as it appears to him to be necessary or expedient in connection with the taking of possession or use of the building in pursuance of this Act, may do, or authorise persons using the building to do, in relation to the building, anything which any person having an unrestricted interest in the building would be entitled to do by virtue of that interest.