Cap. 511 Art. 9Public access to documents, etc.

(1) Without prejudice to any other provision of this Act or of any regulation issued hereunder, documents, publications, records and works in the libraries under the control of the National Librarian, shall be accessible to the public.

(2) The National Librarian may, however, on the advice of the Council, limit access by the public to documents, publications, records, works and objects under his custody where:

(a) their fragility so warrants; or

(b) the exigencies of the libraries make it necessary.

(3) The National Librarian shall strive to make any usable exact copies available in the most appropriate format such as in digital or microfilm format.

(4) All applications for copies of or extracts from documents, publications, records or works in any of the libraries shall be made to the National Librarian, who is hereby authorised to issue, attest and authenticate all copies of, and extracts from, such documents.

(5) Without prejudice to the provisions of this Act, every copy of a record issued as a true copy duly sealed with the seal of the Malta Libraries and signed by the National Librarian shall, for the purposes of any law, be deemed an authentic copy, and for the purpose of evidence in any court or tribunal be deemed equivalent to the original.