What counts as self-defence under Maltese criminal law?
- 27.06.2026
I have an old, relatively minor criminal conviction in Malta from several years ago and it’s now creating problems when I apply for certain jobs that require a conduct certificate. Is there any way to have this removed or excluded from future checks?
Malta does have a legal mechanism, generally referred to as the rehabilitation of offenders, which under specific conditions set out in Maltese law allows certain older, less serious convictions to become 'spent' after a defined rehabilitation period has passed without further offending, meaning they may no longer need to be disclosed or may not appear on certain certificates of conduct issued for general purposes, though this depends heavily on the nature and severity of the original offence and the specific type of certificate being requested, since certain sensitive roles, particularly those involving vulnerable people, can still require disclosure of even older convictions. Given how much the outcome depends on the exact nature of your original conviction, how much time has passed, and which specific type of conduct certificate the employer is requesting, it would be worth having a lawyer review your specific situation to confirm whether your conviction genuinely qualifies as spent under the applicable rules, and if so, how to correctly address any conduct certificate that still appears to reflect it. If the certificate is being issued incorrectly despite your conviction qualifying as spent, this is something that can be raised directly with the issuing authority.
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