The Civil Code of Malta in English:

a preliminary consideration of its possible usefulness

to the European Civil Code Project

Abstract

In the Old World, English is not usually associated with the civil law tradition.

However, the inception of the European Civil Code Project has brought to the fore the

question of the adequacy of English for that tradition. This essay is meant to contribute to

this inquiry by drawing attention to the only obtaining Civil Code of an EU Member

State redacted (also) in English: the Maltese Civil Code. Malta is a mixed jurisdiction, in

the sense that her Public Law is based on English law whereas her Private Law is based

mostly on the law of Italy and France – in other words, Malta is an Anglicized pre-

Unitary Italian State. This melange makes the Maltese Code – drafted and redacted by a

jurist who studied in Italy, France, Germany, and England and promulgated in the 1860s

and 1870s – a living laboratory, also because it has undergone numerous amendments

during the years, even as recently as 2011. The accommodation of the English language

to the needs of the civil law tradition has therefore taken place over more or less fifteen

decades. This essay attempts to attain its objective by introducing Malta, her history,

legal culture and Civil Code to a wider audience, and adducing a few examples to uphold

and illustrate the thesis that the English version of the Maltese Code might turn out to be

a veritable terminological quarry from which to cut the stones to build a European Civil

Code. This is done also by means of a concordance exercise with other known uses of

English for civil law texts.

Abbreviations

CN: Code Napoléon

ECCP: European Civil Code Project

EN: English language

FCC: Civil Code of France

FR: French language

ICC: Civil Code of Italy

IT: Italian language

LCC: Civil Code of Louisiana

MCC: Civil Code of Malta

QCC: Civil Code of Québec

1. Introduction

In November 2010, Italia Oggi carried an interview with the President of the

Italian National Lawyers Council (Consiglio Nazionale Forense) and head of the

delegation to the ECCP. Speaking of Canada and Malta as two former British colonies

having a Civil Code, he proposed the Canadian Code as a possible template for the ECCP

on account of its being bilingual (Italia Oggi 2010: 41). Since Malta is the EU Member

State1 among the two and it too has a bilingual Civil Code, this paper will instead propose

the EN version of MCC as a possible model, also because “Latin (or Mediterranean) legal

cultures … [are a] legitimate voice in the making of legal Europe” (Mattei 2003: xiv) and

because “smaller nations […] should make an effort to ‘export’ their law” (Hondius

2004: 15). This paper will therefore give an overview of the history of Malta, the genesis

and a very brief description of MCC, as well as a cursory scansion of the Code’s Title

dealing with Obligations by way of introducing the Code to a wider audience. Any

serious, in-depth attempt at comparative law being beyond its scope, this paper will focus

exclusively on some of the terminological aspects of this Title of the Code, also because

“European private law is not much concerned about comparison. It is concerned with

collecting arguments and presenting them in one single concept or system, and if need be,

a new one” (I. Sammut 2009: 820).

2. Historical background

1 Since 1 May, 2004.

2.1. History of Malta in brief

Situated some 100 km south of the Italian island of Sicily, the Republic of Malta

is the smallest EU Member State, both in terms of population (410,000 inhabitants2) and

land mass (316 sq. km.).

Following the Arab invasions of southern Europe, Malta was left “an uninhabited

ruin” and was repopulated in 1048-49 by Arabic-speaking settlers hailing mainly from

Sicily (Brincat 2011: 33-39). With the Norman conquest (c. 1090), a slow process of

Latinization began (Luttrell 2002: passim). Malta remained a satellite of Sicily until the

early 16th century, falling under the successive dominion of Swabians, Angevins,

Aragonese and unified Spain. The 1530 enfeoffment of Malta by Charles V to the Order

of St. John coincided more or less with the emergence of the Modern State in Western

Europe, and even though the Order was a medieval organism – in the sense that its

linguistic divisions represented all of Catholic Christendom – the Order’s personal

sovereignty gradually evolved during its 268-year-long rule into territorial sovereignty.

During the 18th century, the successive Grand Masters as Princes of Malta tried to

emulate the structures of the centralized state of France (Ciappara 1993: passim), and the

Principality of Malta became the quintessential ancien régime State. It was only natural

that Bonaparte should seek to conquer it on his way to Egypt, as indeed he did (F.

Sammut 2008: passim). The French presence lasted only two years, from 1798 to 1800,

when the British occupied the Islands3. The occupation was legitimized during the

Congress of Vienna4.

2 A study published by Capelli et al. 2005: 1-20, claims that the contemporary males of Malta most likely originated from southern Italy, including Sicily and up to Calabria. There is a minuscule amount of input from the Eastern Mediterranean with a genetic affinity to Christian Lebanon.3 The Maltese, who were also co-belligerents against the French, ceded their homeland to the British crown (see Sammut v. Strickland, decided by the Privy Council (UK) in 1938).4 Art. VII of the Treaty of Paris, 30 May 1814 (see: Castagnino Berlinghieri 2006: passim).

The British presence, which lasted nominally until 19645 and in real terms until

19796, brought in its wake the slow Anglicization of a people which for centuries had

perceived itself as Sicilian(ate)7.

2.2. Laws of Malta and the Maltese legal profession

This process of Anglicization in Malta necessarily influenced the laws of the land.

Indeed, Malta today is a hybrid jurisdiction with a predominantly common law Public

Law and a predominantly civil law Private Law which is gradually being permeated by a

“received” common law culture.

The legal profession in Malta is divided into three categories, namely advocates,

legal procurators and notaries. Advocates, who are assisted by legal procurators, advise

clients and plead in Court (orally and in writing). Both are deemed officers of the Court8

with the same privileges and subject to the same disqualifications

The Maltese notary is a self-employed9 public officer appointed by the President

of the Republic. The 1927 law10 regulating the Maltese notariat, which belongs to the

Latin tradition11, was modelled on the Italian notarial law of 191312. Malta has a Public

and a Land Registry where titles, hypothecs and charges (and public wills13) are

registered to have effect against third parties.

5 Malta was granted independence from Great Britain on 21 September 1964. See Malta Independence Act 1964 Chapter 86 passed by the United Kingdom Parliament on 31 July 1964.6 The last foreign base on Maltese soil was closed down on 31 March 1979 (Galea undated: 45-55). For an analysis see E. Mizzi 1995: passim.7 For an interesting, albeit somewhat romanticized analysis, see Frendo 1994: 14-15. Professor Frendo uses the politically-loaded term “italianità”. One might theorize that the Maltese are the continuation of the experiment which Britain began in Sicily with the 1812 Palermitan Constitution, but then aborted.8 Code of Organization and Civil Procedure, art. 30.9 Libero professionista.10 The English version of this law is interesting because of the use of phrases such as “an act has been published” (Notarial Profession and Notarial Archives Act, art. 43) which might be compared to and contrasted with “to pass before a notary” used in South Africa (Lowe et al. 1987: 3) and the Louisiana Civil Code (art. 3272). The Maltese law does not know the term “underhand form” (e.g. Lowe et al.1987: 2), while it is the term ‘private writing’ (Notarial Profession and Notarial Archieves Act, art. 2(2)(d)) that is used for an instrument which is not in the public, or notarial, or authentic, form.11 It is a member of the International Union of the Latin Notariat (UINL).12 This law has been recently heavily modified by Act No. XXIV/2011 entitled the Notarial Profession and Notarial Archives (Amendment) Act, 2011. These amendments have introduced substantial autochthonous novelties.13 At the Public Registry. Secret wills are registered at the voluntary jurisdiction section of the Civil Court.

The Courts are divided according to their jurisdiction into Superior and Inferior

Courts14. If indeed “the common law judiciary is composed of leaders of the legal

profession” (Mattei 2003: 33) and “it is the practicing bar that traditionally [supplies] the

members of the bench in the common law” (ibid.: 34), then the Maltese judiciary is

common law. This notwithstanding, the caveat still holds that “the transplant of a legal

ideology outside of its context can transform its sense” (ibid.: 81).

Tertiary education in Maltese law is provided solely by the University of Malta’s

Faculty of Laws. The methodology used (the raison d’être of which is historical) is

consistently, though not exclusively, comparative. Maltese Civil, Commercial, and

Notarial Law are compared to Italian Law and construed in the light of Italian doctrine;

Company, Constitutional, Administrative, Private International Law are compared to

English Law (from which they derive) and construed according to English case-law;

Criminal Law is compared to its English and Italian equivalent and analysed in the light

of English case-law and/or Italian commentaries15. French commentators on the Civil and

Commercial Laws are read through the Italian translations. Public International Law is

taught mainly from the British perspective.

Maltese is the national language of Malta16. Maltese (which replaced Italian in

1934) and English are the official languages.

The language of the Courts is Maltese, but Parliament may make provision for the

exceptional use of English17 as defined in the Judicial Proceedings (Use of English

14 Code of Organization and Civil Procedure, art. 3.15 Of late, Criminal Law lecturers have started comparisons with Scots Law on the presumption that Scots Law and Maltese Law have much in common because both originate in “Roman Law.” Proponents of this school of thought are obviously oblivious to the real relationship between Scots Law and Roman Law in criminal matters. On the other hand, on a psychological level, having recourse to Scots Law seems akin to the reception process experienced in Scotland itself with regard to English common law (see Evans-Jones 1995: 6-7).16 ‘The language of the Maltese archipelago is a unique variety of “peripheral Arabic” […] (Contemporary Maltese is, in essence, the fusional outcome of contact between Arabic and […] “Standard Average European”. Dialectologists ordinarily classify it along with the peripheral varieties of colloquial Arabic surviving outside the pale of the Arab countries comprising a set of highly distinctive and mutually incomprehensible vernaculars spoken by non-Arabs, mainly in S.E. Anatolia, Cyprus, Central Asia (Uzbekistan and Afghanistan), and Central Africa (Chad). Arabic vernaculars of Spain and Sicily also belonged in this class. Arabic-based pidgins fall into a class of their own.) Maltese is ordinarily adjudged an offshoot of a medieval Arabic colloquial harking back to the late 9 th century when the island group was occupied by an Aghlabid force from N. Africa, later joined by military contingents from Sicily. […] The archipelago’s subsequent cultural isolation from the sources of Arabic [from the 13 th century onwards] meant, in effect, about 800 years of autonomous linguistic development in close interaction, firstly, with colloquial and literary Italian and later with English.’ (Borg 2011: 5-6).17 The Constitution of Malta, art. 5.

Language) Act, 196518. Whereas there is a presumption in art. 7(c) that “every person

shall be deemed to be Maltese-speaking unless the court shall be satisfied to the

contrary”, the basic underlying principle is that English-speaking persons enjoy a

qualified right to proceedings in English.

Maltese schools teach most subjects in English, tertiary education is imparted

exclusively in English, and there is a “perceived bilingual setting”19. Yet, the vast

majority of Maltese do not feel comfortable expressing themselves on the quotidian and

consequential in any language other than Maltese. Even those known who usually display

class affectations will revert to Maltese if doing business or pleading their case in court.

The ultimate proof that Maltese is the language in which the people see themselves lies in

the fact that, with few exceptions, tombstones in Maltese cemeteries bear inscriptions in

Maltese.

The exceptional prevalence of English on Maltese is also contemplated by the

Merchant Shipping Act, 197320. Formal investigations relating to merchant shipping

“may, whenever the court shall deem it expedient, be conducted in the English language,

and any procès-verbal or evidence written in that language may be inserted in the record

of the investigation as if it were written in Maltese”.

Unless Parliament provides otherwise, every Maltese law21 is enacted in both

Maltese and English and, if there is any conflict between the two texts of any law, the

Maltese text prevails22.

2.3. The genesis of MCC

In 1784, the Prince published the Municipal Code of Laws (Ciappara 2006: 63-

66), Being a reflection of its multiple, overlaid sources (Roman, Canon, and Sicilian law,

18 Chapter 189 of the Laws of Malta. Articles 2 and 3.19 See Lino Bugeja’s article ‘Britannia rules the e-waves’ in The Times (Malta), 22 December 2011.20 Chapter 234 of the Laws of Malta. Article 315(4).21 There are exceptions such as certain subsidiary legislation promulgated in terms of the Authority for Transport in Malta Act, 2010, Chapter 499 of the Laws of Malta: L.S. 499.09, L.S. 499.15, L.S. 499.17, L.S. 499.18, L.S. 499.24, L.S. 499.25, L.S. 499.27, L.S. 499.28, L.S. 499.29, L.S. 499.33, L.S. 499.36, etc.22 The Constitution of Malta, art. 74. An example of an exception is the Companies Act, 1995, Chapter 386 of the Laws of Malta. Art. 2(7) lays down that “in this Act and in any regulations made thereunder, if there is any conflict between the English and Maltese texts, the English text shall prevail”.

and local judicial customs and pronouncements (Micallef 1841: xii)), it was a typical

ancien régime, pre-Napoleonic “Code” (M.A. Sammut 2009: 330-354).

Despite early attempts to sever Malta’s connection with the civilian tradition

(Harding 1994: 217), by 1831 the British administration was thinking of enacting five

Codes, including a Civil Code, redacted in Italian23 and conforming to the principles and

rules of the more influential foreign Codes, save for those instances warranting the

retention of local laws or customs for local reasons (Debono 1896: 292-293). But this

project was only undertaken from the 1860s onwards, when newly-appointed Crown

Advocate Adriano Dingli – who had studied in Italy, Germany, France and England –

undertook the promulgation of successive Ordinances which gradually replaced the

different books of the Municipal Code. These Ordinances were codified

(“consolidated”24) by the Statute Law Revision Commission in 1942 and became MCC

(Harding 1994: 216).

Ordinances I/1873 and VII/1868 reproduce most of the provisions of the 1865

ICC25, retaining the same method in the order of titles, chapters and sections. Like ICC,

they carry two extra topics with respect to CN: community and possession. On account of

the needs and mores of the Maltese people, however, on numerous occasions the

legislators of 1873 and 1868 had to modify the European legislations serving as their

model, adding special provisions too (Billet 1896: 1), arguably making the Maltese

Ordinances “more progressive than the Code Napoléon because they incorporated

provisions containing solutions to the controversies which arose after the promulgation of

the Code Napoléon” (Harding 1994: 216).

MCC has undergone numerous amendments, even as recently as 2011.

Until not so long ago Canon Law regulated marriage in Malta. Specific legislation

outside the Code was enacted in 1975 to regulate the formalities, validity and annulment

23 The Italian language remained the authoritative language of the Code until the 1936 Constitution (Harding 1994: 214), when Italian was replaced by Maltese mostly on account of Italian irredentism (see Brincat 2011: 276).24 Preamble to the Code.25 Even though Dingli “also consulted the provisions of other leading Continental Codes and the treatises of textwriters of repute […] He also referred to the Code of Louisiana, itself based on the Code Napoléon” (Harding 1994: 216).

of civil marriages26. Divorce, however, was introduced in 2011 by means of amendments

to MCC27.

3. The Code

3.1. Layout of the Code

MCC is divided into two books (Of Persons and Of Things) and three Schedules.

Book First is further divided into eight Titles: Of the Rights and Duties Arising

from Marriage; Of Filiation; Of Adoption; Of Parental Authority; Of Minority and of

Tutorship; Of Majority, Interdiction and Incapacitation; Of Absentees; Of Acts of Civil

Status.

Book Second is further divided into Part I (Of Rights Over Things) and Part II (Of

the Modes of Acquiring and Transmitting Property and Other Rights Over or Relating to

Things).

Part I is subdivided into six Titles: Of Things and their Different Kinds; Of

Ownership; Of the Rights of Usufruct, Use and Habitation; Of Praedial Easements; Of

Community of Property; Of Possession.

Part II is subdivided into twenty-nine Titles: Of Occupancy; Of Accession; Of

Successions; Of Trusts and their effects; Of Obligations in General; Of Marriage

Contracts; Of Sale; Of Exchange; Of Emphyteusis; Of Contracts of Letting and Hiring;

Of Contracts of Partnership; Of the Constitution of Annuities; Of Life Insurance

Contracts; Of Gaming and Betting; Of Compromise; Of Donation; Of Loan for Use or

Commodatum; Of Precarious Loan or Precarium; Of Loan for Consumption or Mutuum;

Of Mandate; Of Deposit; Of Suretyship; Of Contracts of Pledge; Of Antichresis; Of

Privileges and of Hypothecs; Of Trusts and Obligations; Of Security by Title Transfer;

Of the Benefit of Separation of Estates; Of Prescription.

The First Schedule contains fees and templates for administrative acts. The

Second Schedule, added in 2004, is subdivided into four Titles: Of Legal Organisations;

Of Legal Personality; Of Foundations and Associations; Of Winding Up of

26 Chapter 255 of the Laws of Malta (The Marriage Act, 1975).27 Act XIV of 2011, called simply An Act to amend the Civil Code, Cap. 16.

Organisations. The Third Schedule contains a model private writing, and transitional

provisions, relating to leases.

3.2. Recent inclusion of a purely common law concept: trusts

In 2004, MCC was amplified to include the regulatory framework for the

common law trust which was made available to locals, somehow ‘adjusting’ it to fit in the

Code’s wider civil law context.

4. The European Civil Code Project

4.1. Aims

In 1989 the European Parliament passed its first Resolution requesting the

commencement of “the necessary preparatory work on drawing up a common European

Code of Private Law”28 in order to “meet the needs and objectives of the single market

without frontiers” since “a common system of private law will be to the advantage of all

the Member States and to those of the countries belonging to the Community which are

not involved in approving it”29.

ECC could be a vehicle to promote a ‘shared identity’ between Member States of

the European Union, very much like Civil Codes created strong national identities in

France and in Germany. But this is in itself a paradoxical aim for the Union, as it goes

against the “prevailing European identity, which is one that encourages plurality of

languages and cultures” (Twigg-Flesner 2008: 190).

4.2. Difficulties

The project is undoubtedly fraught with all sorts of perils, not only technical, from

the point of view of both legal concepts and legal terminology, but also political. The

Maltese experience with an EN Civil Code could be of use to circumnavigate them.

28 Official Journal of the European Communities, 1989, N. C 158/401.29 Ibid., 400.

Malta has strong historical connection with Britain. Her Civil Code has an equally strong

cultural connection with Italy, and through nineteenth-century Italy with France; it also

shares at least one legal concept with German Law (the joint will between spouses30). The

drafters of Malta’s Civil Law have tried by and large to retain the civil law ‘purity’ of the

concepts about which they were seeking to legislate while making use of the English

language. Even though it would seem this is not the legal English of England, but another

kind, in part also used in England but to convey foreign concepts. In other words, MCC

EN demonstrates that the English language is not necessarily tied to English or Anglo-

American law but can be used, with ease and enabling full comprehension, for purposes

of other legal systems too. This would fit like a glove the project in caption, since as one

Maltese academic put it (I. Sammut 2009: 820):

In European private law, it is no longer self-evident and axiomatic that private law is national

in nature. It is understood as following its own internal logic and non-State interests. It means

doing what any legal system is accustomed to be doing with one exception, the idea to

broaden the field of discussion and to create a pan-European intellectual network.

5. An illustration of the use of English for civil law concepts: the Maltese Law of

Obligations

5.1 Terminological comparisons

A partial concordance has been randomly culled from the Title Of Obligations to

be compared with terms from different sources: Pothier, I.R.E.N.E. Lexicon, Ordinance

VII/1868, the QCC, LCC, and Billiet’s FR translation of the civil laws of Malta.

5.1.1. Pothier

Endorsing the thesis that the “[l]aws of all nations of Europe are derived from the

same sources”, Reinhard Zimmermann convincingly argues that during the nineteenth

century, English scholars, “usually well versed in Roman law [ …] created the modern

30 See § 2265 of the German Civil Code.

general law of contract” and in so doing “it is hardly surprising [...] that they borrowed

heavily from the civilian tradition [...] Pothier’s Traité des obligations was made

accessible to English lawyers by W.D. Evans in 1806 and it soon became one of the most

influential sources of modern English contract law” (Zimmermann 1996: 569).

5.1.2. I.R.E.N.E. Lexicon

In 2003, the Luxembourg-based Institut de Recherches et d’Études Notariales

Européen (I.R.E.N.E.) published the work of the Union Internationale du Notariat

Latin’s Civil Law/Common Law Task Force, an EN-FR Lexicon comparing a small

number of terms and legal concepts which are of particular use to the notarial profession.

Its field of observation spans across common law and civil law jurisdictions (Scotland,

England and Wales, Ireland, Germany, Italy, France, the Netherlands, and Spain).

5.1.3 Ordinance VII/1868

The original Civil Law provisions of Malta were in Italian. There being, to this

author’s knowledge, no contemporary IT translation of Malta’s Code, one has to make do

with the 1868 original texts.

Reference will also be made to the original EN version to allow a comparison

with the current 1942 version.

5.1.4. Billiet, Lois Civiles de Malte

The presence of numerous Maltese colonies in nineteenth-century French-

speaking Maghreb called for an FR translation of the provisions of Malta’s Civil Law. In

1896, Judge Clément Billiet31 published Lois Civiles de Malte Traduites et annotées et

mises en concordance avec le code français, a translation of the Ordinances accompanied

by annotations indicating dis/agreement with FCC.

31 President of the Court of First Instance of Philippeville.

Limiting his work to those provisions he deemed useful to Maghreb Courts

dealing with Maltese litigants, Billiet unfortunately translated only ten articles relating to

the Law of Obligations.

To this author’s knowledge there is no FR translation of the Malta’s Code.

5.1.5 The QCC

Being bilingual and bijurisdictional, the Canadian Province of Québec has

attracted considerable attention, that of the abovementioned Italian Advocates President

included. Québecois resistance to the Common Law introduced in the wake of the 1759

English conquest lead to the return to Québec’s Civil Law in 1774. QCC was patterned

on the CN, but a new, revised Code was promulgated in 1994.

5.1.6 CN EN

This translation, attributed to George Spence, is more or less contemporaneous to

the promulgation of the Code itself. The latter was promulgated in 1804, the former was

published in 1827.

5.1.7 LCC

Adriano Dingli, redactor of the Maltese Civil Law, referred to the Civil Code of

Louisiana, one of the United States of America, during the redaction process32. This

Code, the 1825 version of which is used here, is not based solely on the CN but draws

from various sources, including Spanish materials. It was promulgated in both FR and

EN, but since the EN version was handicapped by “the poor quality of the translation,

[the courts] developed the view that the French text was controlling” (Yiannopoulos

2008: 14).

5.2. Concordance

32 See footnote 28 above.

5.2.1 Methodology

The terms culled from the obtaining MCC were randomly picked. These were

then ‘manually’ compared with the terms in the analogous provisions of the 1868

Ordinance, Billiet’s translation and the I.R.E.N.E. Lexicon. With regard to LCC, the text

was sifted through the Open Library search engine to isolate terms and collocations. The

same process was applied to Pothier EN, QCC, and CN EN, with the sole difference that

the Google Books search engine was used instead. The corresponding terms/collocations

in Italian were retrieved ‘manually’.

The concordance exercise is supplemented with first observations.

Abatement of

price, n.

Civil Code: Article 1064 (c): if the thing

perishes in part only, or deteriorates, without

any fault of the debtor, the loss shall be

borne by the creditor, who shall be bound to

receive the thing in the state in which it is

without any abatement of the price thereof.

Ord 1868: Article 770: EN diminuition of price

IT se la cosa è perita in parte soltanto, o si è

deteriorata senza colpa del debitore, la perdita

è a carico del creditore, il quale deve ricevere la

cosa nello stato in cui si trova, senza

diminuzione di prezzo.

Billiet Page n/a

I.R.E.N.E. n/a

Pothier Page EN 556: suppose, for example, you proceed against me by the action quanto minoris, to obtain

an abatement in the price of a horse, which you allege to have a certain fault against which I

have warranted him, …

FR (Pt. II) 489 : finge : vous avez intenté contre moi l’action quantò minors, pour que je susse

condamné de vous faire une diminution sur le prix d’un certain cheval que je vous ai vendu, que

vous disez avoir un certain vice dont vous me prétendiez garant ; …

IT 398: Finge. Voi avete intentato contro di me l’azione quanto minoris, affinché io fossi

condannato a farvi una diminuzione sul prezzo di un cavallo che vi ho venduto, che voi dicevate

avere un difetto di cui mi pretendevate garante: ...

Québec Civil Code It would seem that this expression is not used.

Code Napoléon It would seem that this expression is not used.

Louisiana Civil

Code

2475. If two pieces of ground have been sold by one and the same contract with the expression

of the measure for each, and there be found a less quantity in one, and a larger one in the other,

the deficiency of the one, is supplied by the overplus of the other, as far as it goes, and the

action, either in supplement or in abatement of the price, takes place only according to the rules

above established.

In English law, the term ‘abatement’ means a reduction in some amount that is

owed, usually granted by the creditor. In the law of torts, it means “summary removal or

remedy or a nuisance by the party injured without having recourse to legal proceedings”

(Halsbury’s Laws of England). Here, instead, we find Pothier EN and MCC using the

term in relation to sale. It would seem that the redactor was inspired by the LCC in this

instance.

Accessory, n. Civil Code: Article 977 (2): Nevertheless, an

obligation entered into in favour of a person

not being an accessory to the use of

violence, in consideration of services

rendered for freeing the obligor from

violence practised by a third party, may not

be avoided on the ground of such violence;

saving the reduction of the sum or thing

promised, where such sum or thing is

excessive.

Ord 1868: Article 683: EN a person who shall

have had no part in IT La obbligazione però

contrattata a favore di colui che non sia stato

partecipe della violenza, in rimunerazione di

servizj prestati per liberare il promittente da

una violenza usata da una terza persona, non

può essere annullata per causa di tale violenza;

salva la riduzione della somma od altra cosa

promessa, qualora sia eccessiva.

Billiet Page n/a

I.R.E.N.E. n/a

Pothier Page EN 17: The agreement then is not less defective, although the person with whom I have been

forced to make it had no share in the violence imposed on me.

FR (Pt. I) 38 : La convention n’en est donc pas moins vicieuse, quoique celui avec qui on m’a

forcé de faire cette convention, n’ait pas eu de part à la violence qui m’a été faite …

IT 64: La convenzione adunque non lascia di esser viziosa; quantunque quegli con cui sono stato

forzato di farla non sia stato partecipe della violenza.

Québec Civil Code Accessory to is used in relation to rights, whether real or otherwise, or a contract, but not in

relation to persons.

Code Napoléon Same use as in the Québec Civil Code.

Louisiana Civil

Code

Same use as in the Québec Civil Code and the Code Napoléon.

Although ‘accessory’ is the English term which would more or less mean

complice or favoreggiatore33 in Italian, it seems to fit better than ‘participant’ or ‘had a

share in’.

Aleatory, adj. Civil Code: Article 964: When the advantage Ord 1868: Article 667: EN hazardous IT É

33 ‘Someone who somehow gives a helping hand’.

or loss, whether to both parties or one of

them, depends on an uncertain event, the

contract is aleatory.

aleatorio, quando per amendue le parti o per

una di esse, il guadagno o la perdita dipende da

un avvenimento incerto.

Billiet Page n/a

I.R.E.N.E. n/a

Pothier Page EN 10: aleatory (or hazardous) contracts are those by which one of the contracting parties,

without contributing any thing on his part, receives something from the other, not by way of gift,

but as a compensation for the risk which he runs.

FR (Pt. I) 24 : Les Contrats aléatoires sont ceux par lesquels l’un des contractans sans rien

donner de sa part, reçoit quelque chose de l’autre, non par libéralité, mais comme le prix du

risque qu’il a couru…

IT 60 : Aleatorii sono quei contratti in cui uno de’contraenti senza dar nulla per sua parte riceve

dall’ altra qualche cosa, non per liberalità, ma come un prezzo del rischio che egli ha corso.

Québec Civil Code 1382. When the extent of the obligations or of the advantages is uncertain, the contract is

aleatory.

Code Napoléon 1105. When the equivalent consists in the chance of gain or loss for each of the parties, in

consequence of an uncertain event, the contract is aleatory.

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Code

2951. The aleatory contract is a mutual agreement, of which the effects, with respect both to

the advantages and losses, whether to all the parties or to one or more of them, depend on an

uncertain event.

Originally, the Maltese redactor seems to have opted for Pothier’s ‘hazardous’,

possibly to meet his audience even more than half way. In 1942, ‘aleatory’ was deemed

comprehensible.

Assignment, n. Civil Code: Article 1021 (2): Where,

however, the assignment was not accepted

by the debtor, but notice thereof was served

upon him, the assignment shall not be a bar

to the set-off except with regard to such

debts as are subsequent to the notice.

Ord 1868: Article 908: EN transfer IT La

cessione, però che il debitore non ha accettato,

ma che gli fu notificata, non impedisce la

compensazione fuorchè dei crediti posteriori

alla notificazione.

Billiet Page n/a

I.R.E.N.E. SCT assignation EN, WAL, IRL assignment FR cession IT trasferimento, cessione ES cessión

Pothier Page EN 396: The transfer which a creditor makes of his debt does not include any novation…

FR (Pt. II) 132 : Le transport que fait un créancier à quelqu’un de sa créance, ne contient aucune

novation, …

IT 291: La cessione del credito fatta dal creditore ad una terza persona, non contiene novazione

alcuna; ...

Québec Civil Code 1637. A creditor […] may not, however, make an assignment that is injurious to the rights of the

debtor or that renders his obligation more onerous. (e.g.)

Code Napoléon 450. …accept an assignment of any claim or credit …

1689. … assignment of the title…

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Code

CHAPTER XII. OF THE ASSIGNMENT OR TRANSFER OF DEBTS AND OTHER INCORPOREAL

Even here, the Maltese redactor seems to have originally followed Pothier, then to

conform in 1942 with the recognized practice in English translation of civil law texts.

Interestingly, the I.R.E.N.E. Task Force used different terms to Pothier FR and IT. This

notwithstanding, the draftings’ different historical moments are of the essence,

particularly in light of the ‘triad formula’ used by notaries ever since the Middle Ages.

This formula seems to have disappeared by the end of the nineteenth century in Italy34,

but has persisted in Malta35. Some instances36 consisted of three verbs or complexes of

verbs, a b and c, where a had the narrowest semantic field and c the widest37. Thus, if x

and y represent semantically relevant additives, then a = a , b = x + a, and c = y + (x + a)

= y + b. These hyponymic relationships might explain the shift in meaning over time or,

alternatively, the lack of mastery in their seemingly interchangeable use. My underlying

contention is obviously that there is no synonmity involved38.

Attach in hands, v. Civil Code: Article 1293 (2): A person who,

being a debtor, becomes a creditor after the

debt has been attached in his hands by a

garnishee order sued out by a third party,

Ord 1868: Article 910: EN sequester ordered in

his own hands IT Quegli che, essendo debitore,

è divenuto creditore dopo il sequestro ordinato

presso di sè a favore di un terzo, non può

34 Falcioni (1890: 323), for instance, reduces the negotium to a terse “(nome e cognome del venditore) vende a (nome e cognome del compratore) che compera” [(name and surname of vendor) sells to (name and surname of purchaser) who buys], and Balducci (2007: 965) uses the same forumla “ il sig. … vende al sig. … che accetta” [Mr … sells to Mr … who accepts].35 The formula “the vendor sells, transfers and conveys to the purchasor who purchases, accepts and acquires” is still used in Malta.36 See D.S. Levine (1980: 403) who describes them as “contain[ing] pyramiding words (one contained inside the second, and both contained inside the third)”.37 E.g. (i) vendidit et vendicionis nomine dedit, tradidit et per tactum penne mei notarij predicti assignavit ac cessit et habere concessit; (ii) solvendarum, tradendarum et assignandarum ; (iii) promictens, conveniens et se obligans – culled from Fiorini 1996: (i) 3 and 19, (ii) 21, and (iii) 57.38 Despite the potential to stray away from the subject at hand, suffice it to refer to an excerpt from an important book on Common Law theory (applicable here because we are dealing with an ancient notarial custom, which is therefore, albeit ironically, closer to the Common Law than the post-1789 Civil Law): “The law is its language; the language itself carries the law, for its peculiar words, removed as they are from use and speech, ‘are so woven into the laws themselves, as it is in a manner impossible to change them […]’. The language of the law is of itself the memory and the monument of law” (Goodrich 1990: 89).

cannot set up a set-off to the prejudice of the

party suing out the order…

opporre la compensazione in pregiudizio di colui

che ha ottenuto il sequestro.

Billiet Page n/a

I.R.E.N.E. n/a

Pothier Page EN 333: So, where a person, in whose hands a debt is attached, is condemned to pay the

amount to the person suing forth the attachment, that person becomes the creditor, and a

payment to him is valid.

FR (Pt. II) 12 : Pareillement, lorsque par une sentence un débiteur arrêté a été condamné de

payer à l’arrêtant ce qu’il doit, & que l’arrêt a été déclaré pour consenti par le créancier de cet

arrêté ; l’arrêtant devient par cette sentence aux droits du créancier de l’arrêté, & le payement

qui est fait par l’arrêté à cet arrêtant est valable.

IT 255: Parimenti allorquando un debitore sequestratario è stato con una sentenza condannato

a pagare al sequestrante quanto egli doveva al suo creditore, e che questi abbia riconosciuta la

stessa sentenza, il sequestrante succede nei diritti del creditore del sequestratario, ed è valido il

pagamento che dal sequestratario vien fatto al sequestrante.

Québec Civil Code It would seem that this expression is not used.

Code Napoléon It would seem that this expression is not used.

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Code

2212: Compensation cannot take place to the prejudice of the rights acquired by a third person;

therefore, he, who being a debtor, is become [sic] creditor since the attachment made by a third

person in his hands, cannot, in prejudice to the person seizing, oppose compensation.

The use of ‘attach in hands’ becomes even more interesting when one compares

the Pothiers FR and EN and the LCC on the one hand, and Ord. VII/1868 IT and Pothier

IT on the other.

Contract, n. Civil Code: Article 960: A contract is an

agreement or an accord between two or

more persons by which an obligation is

created, regulated, or dissolved.

Ord 1868: Article 663: EN contract IT Il

contratto è una convenzione ossia un accordo

fra due o più persone, col quale viene costituita,

regolata, e sciolta una obligazione.

Billiet Page n/a

I.R.E.N.E. SCT An agreement which is binding and which creates rights and obligations EN, WAL & IRL An

agreement which is enforceable by law NL contract or overeenkomst FR contrat IT contratto

Pothier Page EN 4: A contract should be defined as […] “An agreement by which two parties reciprocally

promise and engage, or one of them singly, promises and engages to the other to give some

particular thing, or to do or abstain from doing some particular act.”

FR 8 : le Contrat […] on le doit définer : Une convention par laquelle les deux parties

réciproquement, ou seulement l’une des deux, promettent & s’engagent envers l’autre à lui

donner quelque chose, ou à faire ou ne pas faire quelque chose.

IT 56: la definizione del contratto [...] una convenzione mediante la quale due persone

promettono e si obbligano reciprocamente, o l’una soltanto di esse verso l’altra, a dare, a fare o

a non fare qualche cosa.

Québec Civil Code 1378. A contract is an agreement of wills by which one or several persons obligate themselves to

one or several other persons to perform a prestation.

Code Napoléon 1101. A contract is an agreement which binds one or more persons, towards another or several

others, to give, to do, or not to do something.

Louisiana Civil

Code

1754: A contract is an agreement, by which one person obligates himself to another, to give, to

do, or permit, or not to do something expressed or implied by such agreement.

The wisdom of the Maltese wording is confirmed by the fact that the I.R.E.N.E.

Task Force preferred the wording of the MCC EN to define the Italian concept of

contract rather than translating the present Italian Civil Code’s definition39. Interestingly,

the definition of contract given in art. 663 Ord. VII/1868 does not use the same wording

as art. 1101 CN EN40.

Delegation, n. Civil Code: Article 1183: The delegation by

which a debtor gives to the creditor another

debtor, who binds himself towards the

creditor, shall not operate as novation,

unless the creditor has expressly declared his

intention to release the debtor making the

delegation.

Ord 1868: Article 890: EN delegation IT La

delegazione per cui un debitore assegna al

creditore un altro debitore, il quale si obbliga

verso il creditore, non produce novazione, se il

creditore non ha espressamente dichiarto la sua

volontà di liberare il debitore che ha fatto la

delegazione.

Billiet Page n/a

I.R.E.N.E. SCT The substitution with the creditors’ consent of a new debtor for an old one EN, WAL, & IRL

Novation NL schuldovermening FR délégation IT delegazione ES asunción de deuda

Pothier Page EN 393: A delegation includes a novation, by the extinction of the debt from the person

delegating, and the obligation contracted in his stead by the person delegated.

FR 107 (Pt. II): La délégation renferme une novation, à savoir l’extinction de la dette du

déléguant, & l’obligation que la personne déleguée contracte en sa place ;

IT 288: La delegazione contiene una novazione, l’estinzione cioè del debito del delegante, e

l’obbligazione che il delegato contrae in sua vece.

Québec Civil Code 1668. Where the delegatee accepts the delegation, he preserves his rights against the

39 Italian Civil Code, art. 1321: “Nozione: Il contratto è l'accordo di due o più parti per costituire, regolare o estinguere tra loro un rapporto giuridico patrimoniale” which could be translated as “Notion: A contract is an agreement between two or more parties to constitute, regulate or extinguish between themselves a juridical relationship affecting their assets”.40 Ord. VII/1868, art. 633: A contract is an agreement or an accord between two or more persons by which an obligation is constituted, regulated, or dissolved.Code Napoléon, art. 1101: A contract is an agreement which binds one or more persons, towards another or several others, to give, to do, or not to do something.

delegator, unless the delegatee evidently intends to discharge him.

Code Napoléon 1275. The delegation by which a debtor gives to a creditor another debtor who binds himself

towards the creditor does not operate novation if the creditor has not expressly declared that he

intended to discharge his debtor who has made the delegation.

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Code

2188: The delegation, by which a debtor gives to the creditor another debtor who obliges

himself towards such creditor, does not operate a novation, unless the creditor has expressly

declared that he intends to discharge his debtor who has made the delegation.

Whereas art. 890 Ord. VII/1868 is virtually identical to art. 1275 CN EN41 but not

to the LCC (while the analogous provision in MCC uses a different wording), it would

seem that Ord. VII/1868 as a whole is not a transposition of that translation.

Hypothec, n. Civil Code: Article 1166(a): Subrogation

takes place by operation of law in favour of -

(a) any person who, being himself a creditor,

satisfies another creditor having prior rights,

by reason of privilege or hypothec;

Ord 1868: Article 873: EN hypothecation IT La

surrogazione ha luogo ipso jure a favore di colui

che, essendo egli stesso creditore, abbia pagato

un altro che aveva diritto di essergli preferito

per ragione di privilegio o di ipoteca;

Billiet Page n/a

I.R.E.N.E. EN, WAL mortgage NL hypotheek FR hypothèque IT ipoteca ES hipoteca

Pothier Page EN 365: Where one hypothecary creditor, to strengthen his right of hypothecation, pays to

another what is due to him by the common debtor, such creditor has no need of acquiring a

subrogation; he is subrogated pleno jure to the credit which he has discharged, and to the

hypothecations and rights which depend upon it, …

FR (Pt. II) 71 : Lorsqu’un créancier hypothécaire pour fortifier son droit d’hypotheque, paye à un

autre créancier hypothécaire ce qui lui est dû par le débiteur commun, ce créancier n’a pas

besoin de requérir la subrogation, il est subrogé de plein droit à la créance qu’il a acquittée, &

aux hypotheques & droits qui en dépendent, …

IT 272: Quando un creditore ipotecario per rendere efficace il suo diritto d’ ipoteca ad un altro

creditore ipotecario ciò che gli è dovuto dal comune debitore, in questo caso non è necessario

che il creditore domandi la surrogazione; ma subentra ipso jure nel credito che ha pagato e nelle

ipoteche e ragioni dal medesimo dipendenti; ...

Québec Civil Code 2660. A hypothec is a real right on a movable or immovable property made liable for the

performance of an obligation.

41 Ord. VII/1868, art. 890: The delegation by which a debtor gives to the creditor another debtor, who binds himself towards such creditor, does not operate a novation, unless the creditor has expressly declared that it is his intention to discharge the debtor who has made the delegation.Code Napoléon , art. 1275: The delegation by which a debtor gives to a creditor another debtor who binds himself towards the creditor does not operate novation if the creditor has not expressly declared that he intended to discharge his debtor who has made the delegation.

Code Napoléon It would seem that this term is not used. Instead the term mortgage is used (e.g. Title XVIII).

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Code

This Code uses mortgage, but then to hypothecate, hypothecary action and hypothecation.

It would seem that only MCC and QCC use the term ‘hypothec’. Even France’s

official Code Civil EN (art. 2393) uses ‘mortgage’ for hypothéque.

Set up nullity of, v. Civil Code: Article 973: Persons capable of

contracting may not set up the nullity of the

contract on the ground of the disability of

those with whom they have contracted.

Ord 1868: Article 679: EN plead the nullity of IT

Le persone capaci di contrattare non possono

opporre la nullità del contratto per difetto di

capacità colui col quale hanno contratto.

Billiet Page 679: opposer la nullité (civ. fr. 1125, §2)

I.R.E.N.E. n/a

Pothier Page It would seem that this expression is not used. Neither is opposer la nullité in the original.

Québec Civil Code passim: set up defense / invoke nullity

Code Napoléon 2226: set up prescription (e.g.) but not set up nullity of.

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Code

1785: The persons who have treated with a minor, the person interdicted, or of insane mind, or

with a married woman, cannot plead the nullity of the agreement, if it is sought to be enforced

by the party, when the disability shall cease, or by those who legally administer the rights of

such person during the disability.

Prima facie, this would seem to be a later Maltese excogitation.

Set-off, n. Civil Code: Article 1196 (1): Where two

persons are mutual debtors, a set-off takes

place between them.

Ord 1868: Article 903: EN compensation IT

Quando due persone sono debitrici l’una verso

l’altra, ha luogo tra esse una compensazione.

Billiet Page n/a

I.R.E.N.E. n/a

Pothier Page EN 408: Of Compensation (Set off) Compensation is the extinction of debts of which two persons

are reciprocally creditors.

FR (Pt. II) 140 : De la Compensation. La compensation est l’extinction qui se fait des dettes dont

deux personnes sont réciproquement débitrices l’une envers l’autre,…

IT 299 : Della Compensazione. La compensazione è l’estinzione di due debiti che si fa tra due

persone reciprocamente debitrici l’una verso l’altra con i crediti di cui sono creditrici

reciprocamente.

Québec Civil Code It would seem that this expression is not used.

Code Napoléon Set-off is not used, but compensation. 1289: When two persons find themselves in each other's

debt a compensation is effected between them extinguishing both debts in the manner and in

the cases hereafter expressed.

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Code

The Index says that “Compensation or Set-off” is referred to in art. 2126 which however reads:

2126: Obligations are extinguished: By payment ; By novation ; By voluntary remission ; By

compensation ; By confusion ; By the loss of the thing ; By nullity or rescission ; …

Article 2203 then defines “compensation” (“set-off” is not mentioned here) thus: 2203: When

two persons are indebted to each other, there takes place between them a compensation that

extinguishes both the debts, in the manner and cases hereafter expressed.

The wisdom of the Maltese choice is confirmed by France’s official Code Civil

EN, Section IV of Chapter V of which is entitled Of Set-Off (art. 1289-1299). LCC uses

set-off only in the Index; in the text itself it uses compensation.

Title, instrument

of, n.

Civil Code: Article 1114 (1) (b): when, under

the instrument of title, one of the heirs alone

is charged with the performance of the

obligation.

Ord 1868: Article 820: EN title IT Quando uno

solo degli eredi sia, in forza del titolo, incaricato

dell’adempimento della obbligazione.

Billiet Page n/a

I.R.E.N.E. SCT, EN, WAL, IRL title FR titre de propriété IT titolo ES titulo

Whereas titre de propriété refers to a “document attesting to the right of ownership”, titolo and

titulo may refer either to a right of ownership or a document attesting the right.

Pothier Page Article 1 of Chapter 1 of Part IV is entitled Of Original Authentic Titles (FR Des Titres

authentiques originaux, IT Dei titoli autentici originali), and it is clear that the Artilce speaks of

instruments as it uses “acts” (actes, atti) throughout.

Québec Civil Code 1719. The seller is bound to surrender to the buyer the titles of ownership in his possession and,

in the case of the sale of an immovable, a copy of the deed of acquisition of the immovable, of

any previous titles and of any location certificate in his possession.

Code Napoléon Title is used. E.g. 2160: Cancellation may be directed by the courts when the enrolment has been

made without being founded either in law or on a title or when it has been so by virtue of a title,

either irregular, or extinguished or discharged …

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Code

Instrument is used in the sense of act or deed, even qualified with authentic, and title is used to

signify ownership, but the collocation instrument of title is not used.

The seemingly idiosyncratic use of instruments of title is condoned, if not fully

endorsed, by the equally idiosyncratic use of titles of ownership used by the QCC. Both

Codes felt the need to clarify the difference – redundant in a civil law jurisdiction –

between title (i.e. the right the owner owns on the res) and document (act or deed, but, to

confuse matters, also called ‘title’) whereby the acquisition of said title is reduced to

writing. The document of acquisition by itself is not enough to establish the title vis-à-vis

third parties, as it depends on the ‘insinuation’ (registration, enrolment or inscription) at

a public registry. This is run of the mill in a civil law jurisdiction, with the Latin-type

notary, but a common law reader might need further clarifications.

5.2.2 First observations

These first observations on what is a randomly-selected sample of provisions

would indicate the need for further investigation, possibly comparing the Maltese

legislative texts primarily with the 1865 ICC and only then with the French ‘progenitor’

and the Louisiana ‘relative’. Needless to say, this would go beyond the scope of the

present study42.

The above random sample of Maltese excogitations does, however, reveal the

Maltese Code’s potential for the ECCP. There are terms – such as ‘aleatory’,

‘assignment’ and ‘delegation’ – which seem to be common to all texts which might serve

as models. In certain cases, the Maltese redactor found the same solution as his

Québecois (e.g. ‘hypothec’) or as his French counterpart (e.g. ‘set-off’). There are

instances in which, compared to others, MCC seems to demonstrate greater inventiveness

in the quest to achieve clarity (e.g. ‘set up nullity of’, and ‘instrument of title’).

The Maltese civil law legislators attempted to make more transparent those terms

they devised to render not only a linguistic equivalent but also a cultural notion. At times,

they perceived the notion as easily comprehensible; at others, they deemed it more

expedient to increase the transparency. The end-result is not an exercise in abstraction

following a brain-storming session between academics and theoreticians. It is the product

of long years of experiencing the twilight zone between two legal traditions and finding a

way of being sensitive to a multi-cultural milieu where the identity of the majority is

different from one’s own while retaining that own identity. Viewed from a certain angle,

it was not really much different from today’s situation, replete as it is with tensions

between the global and the local.

6. Conclusion

6.1 A new geist?

42 On the other hand, an in-depth linguistic study on how the Maltese wittingly or unwittingly acclimatized to their new politico-legal environment, while being within the scope, would require a deeper analysis which would then defy the self-imposed limitations of a preliminary consideration.

The pre-modern world witnessed the historical centrifugal process whereby

Romance languages descended from Latin and Romanist Law from Roman Law. Our

own world now seems to actively desire, or passively move toward, a contrary,

centripetal process. Indeed, the contribution of multilingualism seems to be “blending the

different legal and linguistic cultures into a new EU legal culture and language” (Burr

2011: passim) – the “blend ‘glocal’ (global + local) to qualify the world of

communication stemming from the idea of providing a sort of ‘settlement’ between

global and local instances” (Distante 2011: passim).

Ugo Mattei says that “the attitude to respect diversity and multiplicity, aiming at

fragmentation and hybridization, suggests new grounds, a new philosophy and new

contents for the [European] Code that are able to take into consideration the new geist”,

stressing that “[w]hat becomes crucial in this perspective is the capacity of the European

Code to contain norms at the appropriate semantic level” (Mattei 2003: 103).

6.2. Multilingualism vs. Plain English

Relentless translation is the lynchpin of multilingualism. To borrow the words of

one author writing on the translation carried out in Scotland of Roman Law 43 into

English, “translation is a desirable but profoundly delicate exercise which should seek to

reproduce the essence of an institution after a process of careful study. If it is merely shot

from the hip of an inventive mind it can effect, not a translation but a transformation”

(Evans-Jones 1995: 7-8).

The same difficulty inheres in the translation of terms from different civil law

jurisdictions into English. Can the English language convey without distortion non-

English legal concepts? Is that distortion desirable in the context of the ECCP?

When this very same exercise was carried out in nineteenth-century Malta with

regard to the Civil Code, the process of Anglicization was still not in full swing (Brincat

2011: 276). It may be hypothesized, then, that at the time the advection flow of common

law pollutants was still weak, and legal thinking in the field of Civil Law was still

43 Whether classical or Justinianic, or that derived from the ius commune.

exclusively immersed in a limpid civil law tradition, also because it was one of the few

means the Maltese had to resist imperial hegemony.

The Maltese remained steadfast in their intention of preserving their Catholic and

Latin identity despite the non-Catholic, non-Latin world power occupying their

homeland. The terminology used then, and polished in 1942, is possibly the closest one

can get to a ‘neutral translation’. Their decades-long experience taught the Maltese to

dare using English terms possibly deemed unconventional in a civil law text in English,

without compromising the civil law nature of that text. This successful exercise in

preserving the civil law spirit from the common law hegemony might serve to allay fears

that there is “the need to protect the common law from the imperialism of the civil law

(the European code)” (Mattei 2003: 72). Indeed, the two systems can co-exist, at least

terminologically. But already, in a very philosophical sense, if words can co-exist

peacefully, then that is the goal achieved.

The accommodation of English words to civil law concepts was imposed by

History on the redactors of MCC EN. The fact that the I.R.E.N.E. Task Force chose the

Maltese definition of ‘contract’, for instance, shows that this accommodation has been

achieved and is appreciated. The study of the English-language version of the Maltese

Code, it is submitted, might therefore be well-worth the effort.

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