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 preUnitary 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 Napolon 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 Qubec 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 Codes 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

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 inhabitants 2) 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 Orders 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 rgime 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.

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-employed 9 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 italianit. 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 Maltas Faculty of Laws. The methodology used (the raison dtre 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 15

Code of Organization and Civil Procedure, art. 3. 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 archipelagos subsequent cultural isolation from the sources of Arabic [from the 13th 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 setting19. 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 procs-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: 6366), 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. See Lino Bugejas 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.
19

and local judicial customs and pronouncements (Micallef 1841: xii)), it was a typical ancien rgime, pre-Napoleonic Code (M.A. Sammut 2009: 330-354). Despite early attempts to sever Maltas 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 (consolidated24) 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 Napolon because they incorporated provisions containing solutions to the controversies which arose after the promulgation of the Code Napolon (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 Napolon (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 27

Chapter 255 of the Laws of Malta (The Marriage Act, 1975). 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 Codes 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 Law28 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 it29. 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 29

Official Journal of the European Communities, 1989, N. C 158/401. 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 Maltas 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 AngloAmerican 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 Billiets 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 [...] Pothiers Trait 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 dtudes Notariales Europen (I.R.E.N.E.) published the work of the Union Internationale du Notariat Latins 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 authors knowledge, no contemporary IT translation of Maltas 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 Frenchspeaking Maghreb called for an FR translation of the provisions of Maltas Civil Law. In 1896, Judge Clment Billiet31 published Lois Civiles de Malte Traduites et annotes et mises en concordance avec le code franais, 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 authors knowledge there is no FR translation of the Maltas Code. 5.1.5 The QCC Being bilingual and bijurisdictional, the Canadian Province of Qubec has attracted considerable attention, that of the abovementioned Italian Advocates President included. Qubecois resistance to the Common Law introduced in the wake of the 1759 English conquest lead to the return to Qubecs 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, Billiets 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 Billiet Page I.R.E.N.E. Pothier Page Ord perita 1868: in Article 770: o si EN

diminuition of price IT se la cosa parte soltanto, deteriorata senza colpa del debitore, la perdita a carico del creditore, il quale deve ricevere la cosa nello stato in cui si trova, senza diminuzione di

of the price thereof. prezzo. n/a n/a 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 intent contre moi laction quant minors, pour que je susse condamn de vous faire une diminution sur le prix dun certain cheval que je vous ai vendu, que vous disez avoir un certain vice dont vous me prtendiez garant ; IT 398: Finge. Voi avete intentato contro di me lazione quanto minoris, affinch 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: ... It would seem that this expression is not used. It would seem that this expression is not used. 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

Qubec Civil Code Code Napolon Louisiana Civil Code

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 (Halsburys 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): Ord part 1868: in IT Article La 683: EN a Nevertheless, an obligation entered into in favour of a person not being an accessory in to the use of of violence, consideration person who shall have had no obbligazione per 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 pu essere annullata per causa di tale violenza; somma salva od la riduzione cosa della altra promessa,

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 Billiet Page I.R.E.N.E. Pothier Page

is excessive. qualora sia eccessiva. n/a n/a 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 nen est donc pas moins vicieuse, quoique celui avec qui on ma forc de faire cette convention, nait pas eu de part la violence qui ma t 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. Accessory to is used in relation to rights, whether real or otherwise, or a contract, but not in relation to persons. Same use as in the Qubec Civil Code. Same use as in the Qubec Civil Code and the Code Napolon.

Qubec Civil Code Code Napolon Louisiana Civil Code

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
33

Someone who somehow gives a helping hand.

share in.
Aleatory, adj. Civil Code: Article 964: When the advantage or loss, whether to both parties or one of them, depends on an uncertain event, the contract is Billiet Page I.R.E.N.E. Pothier Page Ord 1868: Article 667: EN

hazardous IT aleatorio, quando per amendue le parti o per una di esse, il guadagno o la perdita dipende

aleatory. da un avvenimento incerto. n/a n/a 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 alatoires sont ceux par lesquels lun des contractans sans rien donner de sa part, reoit quelque chose de lautre, non par libralit, mais comme le prix du risque quil a couru IT 60 : Aleatorii sono quei contratti in cui uno decontraenti senza dar nulla per sua parte riceve dall altra qualche cosa, non per liberalit, ma come un prezzo del rischio che egli ha corso. 1382. When the extent of the obligations or of the advantages is uncertain, the contract is aleatory. 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. 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.

Qubec Civil Code Code Napolon Louisiana Civil Code

Originally, the Maltese redactor seems to have opted for Pothiers hazardous, possibly to meet his audience even more than half way. In 1942, aleatory was deemed comprehensible.
Assignment, n. Civil Code: Article 1021 (2): Ord 1868: Article 908: EN transfer IT La cessione, per che il debitore non ha accettato, ma che gli fu notificata, non impedisce dei la compensazione fuorch crediti 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 Billiet Page I.R.E.N.E. Pothier Page the notice. n/a SCT assignation EN, WAL, IRL assignment FR cession IT trasferimento, cessione ES cessin 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 crancier quelquun de sa

posteriori alla notificazione.

crance, ne contient aucune novation, IT 291: La cessione del credito fatta dal creditore ad una terza persona, Qubec Civil Code Code Napolon Louisiana Civil Code non contiene novazione alcuna; ... 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.) 450. accept an assignment of any claim or credit 1689. assignment of the title 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
34

Civil Code: Article 1293 (2): A

Ord

1868:

Article

910:

EN

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).

hands, v.

person

who,

being

debtor,

sequester ordered in his own hands IT Quegli che, essendo debitore, divenuto creditore dopo il sequestro ordinato presso di s a favore di un terzo, non pu opporre la compensazione in pregiudizio di colui

becomes a creditor after the debt has been attached in his hands by a garnishee order sued out by a third party, cannot set up a set-off to the prejudice of the party suing Billiet Page I.R.E.N.E. Pothier Page

out the order che ha ottenuto il sequestro. n/a n/a 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 dbiteur arrt a t condamn de payer larrtant ce quil doit, & que larrt a t dclar pour consenti par le crancier de cet arrt ; larrtant devient par cette sentence aux droits du crancier de larrt, & le payement qui est fait par larrt cet arrtant est valable. IT 255: Parimenti allorquando un debitore sequestratario 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 valido il pagamento che dal sequestratario vien fatto al sequestrante. It would seem that this expression is not used. It would seem that this expression is not used. 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.

Qubec Civil Code Code Napolon Louisiana Civil Code

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 accord Code: Article two 960: or A Ord 1868: Article 663: EN contract IT Il contratto una convenzione ossia un accordo fra due o pi persone, col quale viene costituita, contract is an agreement or an between more persons by which an obligation is Billiet Page I.R.E.N.E.

created, regulated, or dissolved. regolata, e sciolta una obligazione. n/a 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 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

Pothier Page

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 dfiner : Une convention par laquelle les deux parties rciproquement, ou seulement lune des deux, promettent & sengagent envers lautre lui donner quelque chose, ou 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 luna soltanto di Qubec Civil Code Code Napolon Louisiana Civil Code esse verso laltra, a dare, a fare o a non fare qualche cosa. 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. 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. 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 Codes definition 39. 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: delegation who binds Article 1183: The by which a debtor the as 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 la sua novazione, se il creditore non ha espressamente dichiarto volont di liberare il debitore che ha

gives to the creditor another debtor, himself not towards operate creditor, shall

novation, unless the creditor has expressly declared his intention to release Billiet Page I.R.E.N.E. the debtor making the

delegation. fatto la delegazione. n/a SCT The substitution with the creditors consent of a new debtor for an old one EN, WAL, & IRL Novation NL schuldovermening FR dlgation IT delegazione ES asuncin de deuda

39

Italian Civil Code, art. 1321: Nozione: Il contratto l'accordo di due o pi 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 Napolon, 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.

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 dlgation renferme une novation, savoir lextinction de la dette du dlguant, & lobligation que la personne dlegue contracte en sa place ; IT 288: La delegazione contiene una novazione, lestinzione cio del debito del delegante, e lobbligazione che il delegato contrae in sua vece. 1668. Where the delegatee accepts the delegation, he preserves his rights against the delegator, unless the delegatee evidently intends to discharge him. 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. 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.

Qubec Civil Code Code Napolon

Louisiana Civil Code

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 takes 1166(a): place by Ord 1868: Article 873: EN

Subrogation

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

operation of law in favour of - (a) any person who, being himself a creditor, satisfies another creditor having prior rights, by reason of Billiet Page I.R.E.N.E. Pothier Page

privilege or hypothec; privilegio o di ipoteca; n/a EN, WAL mortgage NL hypotheek FR hypothque IT ipoteca ES hipoteca 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,

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 Napolon, 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.

FR (Pt. II) 71 : Lorsquun crancier hypothcaire pour fortifier son droit dhypotheque, paye un autre crancier hypothcaire ce qui lui est d par le dbiteur commun, ce crancier na pas besoin de requrir la subrogation, il est subrog de plein droit la crance quil a acquitte, & aux hypotheques & droits qui en dpendent, IT 272: Quando un creditore ipotecario per rendere efficace il suo diritto dipoteca ad un altro creditore ipotecario ci che gli dovuto dal comune debitore, in questo caso non necessario che il creditore domandi la surrogazione; ma subentra ipso jure nel credito che ha pagato e nelle Qubec Civil Code Code Napolon Louisiana Civil Code ipoteche e ragioni dal medesimo dipendenti; ... 2660. A hypothec is a real right on a movable or immovable property made liable for the performance of an obligation. It would seem that this term is not used. Instead the term mortgage is used (e.g. Title XVIII). 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 Frances official Code Civil EN (art. 2393) uses mortgage for hypothque.
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. Billiet Page I.R.E.N.E. Pothier Page Qubec Civil Code Code Napolon Louisiana Civil Code Ord 1868: Article 679: EN plead the nullity of IT Le persone capaci di contrattare non possono opporre la nullit del contratto per difetto di capacit colui col quale hanno

contratto. 679: opposer la nullit (civ. fr. 1125, 2) n/a It would seem that this expression is not used. Neither is opposer la nullit in the original. passim: set up defense / invoke nullity 2226: set up prescription (e.g.) but not set up nullity of. 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 Where debtors, Code: two a Article persons set-off 1196 are takes (1): place Ord 1868: Article IT 903: Quando esse EN due una mutual compensation laltra, ha luogo

persone sono debitrici luna verso tra

between them. Billiet Page I.R.E.N.E. Pothier Page

compensazione. n/a n/a 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 lextinction qui se fait des dettes dont deux personnes sont rciproquement dbitrices lune envers lautre, IT 299 : Della Compensazione. La compensazione lestinzione di due debiti che si fa tra due persone reciprocamente debitrici luna verso laltra Qubec Civil Code Code Napolon con i crediti di cui sono creditrici reciprocamente. It would seem that this expression is not used. 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 Louisiana Civil Code expressed. 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 Frances 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 Billiet Page I.R.E.N.E. Ord 1868: Article 820: EN title IT Quando uno solo degli eredi sia, in forza del titolo, incaricato delladempimento della obbligazione.

the obligation. n/a SCT, EN, WAL, IRL title FR titre de proprit IT titolo ES titulo Whereas titre de proprit 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. 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. 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. Title is used. E.g. 2160: Cancellation may be directed by the courts when the

Pothier Page

Qubec Civil Code

Code Napolon

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 Louisiana Civil Code discharged 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--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 Codes 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 Qubecois (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).
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 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 ones own while retaining that own identity. Viewed from a certain angle, it was not really much different from todays situation, replete as it is with tensions between the global and the local. 6. Conclusion 6.1 A new geist? 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 nonEnglish 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 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

43

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

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. References Balducci D. 2007. Formulario di Tutti i Contratti Pubblici e Privati. Milan: Edizioni FAG. Billiet C. 1896. Lois Civiles de Malte Traduites et annotes et mises en concordance avec le code franais, Traduction publie avec lautorisation de M. le Premier Prsident de la Cour dappel dAlger, Collect. de Codes trangers XVII. Paris: Pedone. Borg A. 2011. The basic colour terms of Maltese. Zeitschrift fr Arabische Linguistik 53: 5-35. Brincat J.M. 2011. Maltese and Other Languages. Malta: Midsea Books. Capelli C. et al. 2005. Population structure in the Mediterranean Basin; A Y chromosome perspective. Annals of Human Genetics 69: 1-20. Castagnino Berlinghieri U. 2006. Congresso di Vienna e Principio di Legittimit. Milan: Vita e Pensiero. Ciappara F. 1993. Gio. Nicol Muscat: Church-State relations in Hospitaller Malta during the Enlightenment,1786-1798. In V. Mallia-Milanes (ed.), Hospitaller Malta. 1530-1798. Studies on Early Modern Malta and the Order of St John of Jerusalem. Malta: Mireva Publications: 605-658. Ciappara F. 2006. Enlightenment and Reform in Malta 1740-1798. Malta: Midsea Books. Debono P. 1896. Sommario della Storia della Legislazione in Malta. Malta. Evans W.D. 1806. A Treatise on the Law of Obligations or Contracts by M. Pothier. London: Joseph Butterworth. Evans-Jones R. (ed.) 1995. The Civil Law Tradition in Scotland. Edinburgh: The Stair Society. Falcioni C. 1890. Manuale Teorico-Pratico del Notariato. Turin: Unione TipograficaEditrice.

Fiorni S. (ed.) 1996. Documentary Sources of Maltese History: Part I: Notarial Documents. No. 1 Notary Giocomo Zabbara R494/1(I): 1486-1488. Malta: University of Malta. Frendo H. 1994. National identity. In H. Frendo & O. Friggieri (eds.), Malta. Culture and Identity. Malta: Ministry of Youth and the Arts: 1-25. Galea J. (R.M. Cassar, ed.) undated, possibly 1990. Maltas Timeline. A Handbook of Maltese Chronology. Malta: Laga Co. Ltd. Goodrich P. 1990. Languages of Law, from Logics of Memory to Nomadic Masks. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. Harding H.W. 1994. Law. In H. Frendo & O. Friggieri (eds.), Malta. Culture and Identity. Malta: Ministry of Youth and the Arts: 205-218. Hondius E. 2004. Towards a European Civil Code. In A. Hartkamp et al. (eds.), Towards a European Civil Code (3rd ed.). The Netherlands: Kluwer Law International: 325. Levine D.S. 1980. My client has discussed your proposal to fill the drainage ditch with his partners: legal language. In L. Michaels et al. (eds.), The State of The Language. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press: 400-409. Lowe M.J. et al. 1987. Elliott: The South African Notary. Cape Town: Juta & Co. Ltd. Luttrell A. 2002. The Making of Christian Malta. From the Middle Ages to 1530. Aldershot UK: Ashgate. Mattei U. 2003. The European Codification Process. Cut and Paste. The Netherlands: Kluwer Law International. Micallef A. 1841. Dritto Municipale di Malta compilato sotto de Rohan G.M. Or Nuovamente Corredato di Annotazioni. Malta. Mizzi E. 1995. Malta in the Making, 1962-1987. An Eyewitness Account. Malta: E. Mizzi. Pothier R.J. 1764. Trait des Obligations selon les regles tant du for de la conscience, que du for extrieur. Paris: Debure & Orleans: Rouzeau-Montaut. -------------- 1841. Opere T.1.P.1. Trattato delle Obbligazioni. Leghorn: Vignozzi. Sammut F. 2008. Bonaparte Malte, Malta: Kotba-Argo. Sammut I. 2009. Tying the knot in European Private Law. European Review of Private Law 5: 813-840.

Sammut M.A. 2009. The place of the Codice Municipale di Malta in European legal history. Id-Dritt Law Journal XX: 330-354. Spence G. (attr.) 1827. The Code Napoleon, or The French Civil Code. London: Benning. Twigg-Flesner C. 2008. The Europeanisation of Contract Law. London: Routledge Cavendish. Yiannopoulos A.N. 2008. The Civil Codes of Louisiana. In 1 CIV. L. COMMENT. 1, 1 at http://www.civil law.org/v01i01-Yiannopoulos.pdf. Zimmermann R. 1996. The Law of Obligations. Roman Foundations of the Civilian Tradition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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Cases Sammut v. Strickland, Privy Council (United Kingdom), 1938. Burr I. 2011. Legal terminology and multilingualism, a paper delivered during the Terminology in Legislative Procedures Seminar organized by the Terminology Coordination Unit, DG Trad, European Parliament, in Luxembourg on March 28, 2011. Distante A. 2011. Legal terminology and the Glocal World of Communication, a paper delivered during the Terminology in Legislative Procedures Seminar organized by the Terminology Coordination Unit, DG Trad, European Parliament, in Luxembourg on March 28, 2011. Inghilterra e Italia nel nuovo Codice civile europeo in Italia Oggi, November 18, 2010, p. 41. Italy . Official Journal of the European Communities, 1989, N. C 158/401.