Law Commissioner Franco Debono is currently selecting a number of outdated laws to be repealed and 152 have been identified so far.
Some of these laws would seem hilarious to the younger generation, but it is necessary to keep in mind the overall context and mind-set at the time. For example, the law providing for a Maltese development plan for the years between 1981 and 1985 is just simply out-of-date. The following are some more examples.
One piece of legislation that is due to be repealed is a reminder of what were perhaps darker days. The Lighting Control Ordinance, passed in 1938, allows the Prime Minister, whenever he deems a situation to be an emergency or on an occasion of public danger, to order the total or partial cessation of lighting in Malta. This was, of course, in order to ensure that blackouts took effect when German and Italian bombers flew overhead in order to make bombing more difficult. Anyone who refused or failed to comply with the order would have been subject to a fine of not more than €116.47. In case you are wondering if that figure is a typo, no, it isn't. The Ordinance has actually been updated to reflect the amount in euros.
One law, enacted in 1889, allowed the Minister in charge of the police to prohibit certain goods from being exported for security reasons. These included ammunition and arms, gunpowder and military stores. The exportation or attempted exportation of such goods would result in a fine of €232.94. (Yes, I assume that someone actually took the time to convert all the currency used to euros, regardless of the law's relevance. Technocracy at its best.)
A rather comic law surrounds carrier-pigeons. The importation of such pigeons for any use is only permissible from countries with whom Malta has entered into a convention for the mutual and equal treatment of such birds. What makes this law comic, however, is the need for a licence from the Minister of Police in order to have carrier pigeons. In addition, anyone who receives a carrier pigeon from abroad is required to inform the Commissioner of Police. "It shall be lawful for any Police officer not inferior in rank to an Inspector to order the production, for inspection by him, of any pigeons intended for flying purposes, whatever may be their origin or the object of their training, whether used for shooting or belonging to special homing pigeon lofts, and, in any case, to mark the pigeons with a special stamp or to seize the same". Lastly, "...whoever employs a carrier pigeon in a manner prejudicial to the safety of the State shall be liable on conviction, to imprisonment for a term from three months to two years". Bear in mind that this law was introduced in 1903.
The Encouragement of New Industries Act, also set to be repealed, came into law back in 1925 and sought to encourage investment in Malta.
The law states: "It shall be lawful for the Minister responsible for development, after consultation with the Corporation, to grant an exclusive right to start and carry on any new industry in Malta for a specified period of years and under such conditions as he may deem it expedient to impose". It goes on to read; "It shall be competent to the Minister responsible for development, after having heard the Corporation, to consider any opposition which may have been made to the application or applications for an exclusive right, and to grant any of the applications or to refuse them all".