Cap. 261 Art. 31Offences.

(1) Without prejudice to any other offence emanating from the Laws of Malta which is directly or indirectly connected with any of the following acts and omissions, any person who:

(a) hinders, obstructs, molests or interferes with, or reasonable requirement demanded of him by any of the persons as aforesaid or otherwise fails to assist him in the carrying out of the said duties, or knowingly furnishes such person with false information or neglects or refuses to give any information for the purpose aforesaid; or

(b) makes a declaration, for any one of the purposes of the Act, which is false, misleading or incorrect in any material respect, shall be guilty of an offence against the Act and shall be liable, on conviction, to a fine (multa) not exceeding ten thousand euro (€10,000).

(2) The Court, besides awarding the punishment referred to in sub-article (1), shall order the offender to remove the causes of the offence and to undo anything which was done without permission or to comply with the conditions imposed in the agreement entered between the Authority and the offender, as the case may be, within a time sufficient for that purpose, but in no case exceeding three (3) months from the date of the judgment, and if the offender is a beneficiary of any scheme issued by the Authority, the Court shall also order the refund of any benefit granted to said offender and, or the termination ipso jure of the lease agreement of the residential accommodation allocated to him, as the case may be.

(3) Proceedings against any person for any offence as is mentioned in sub-article (1) shall be taken before the Court of Magistrates (Malta) or the Court of Magistrates (Gozo), as the case may be, as courts of criminal judicature in accordance with the provisions of the Criminal Code:

Provided that notwithstanding the provisions of article 376(1)(b) of the Criminal Code, the Court shall, at the request of the prosecution or of the accused, take down evidence given by the witnesses in the manner provided for in article 390(6) of the Criminal

Code or in any law in force at that time.