Can I take a landlord-tenant dispute to the Malta Arbitration Centre?

The Malta Arbitration Centre, established under the Arbitration Act, Chapter 387 of the Laws of Malta, primarily handles disputes where the parties have agreed to arbitration, either through a specific clause in their contract or by later agreeing to submit an existing dispute to arbitration, and it is worth noting that certain categories of dispute, including matters involving real estate and marriage dissolution, are subject to specific limitations or exclusions from the Centre's arbitration process under Maltese rules, meaning arbitration is not automatically the right or even available route for every type of dispute, including some residential landlord-tenant matters. For residential tenancy disputes specifically, Maltese law more commonly directs parties toward the Housing Authority or the Rent Regulation Board, which have specific jurisdiction over private residential lease disputes, including matters relating to a landlord's repair obligations, under the framework of the Private Residential Leases Act. Before pursuing arbitration, it would be worth confirming with the Malta Arbitration Centre directly, or with a lawyer, whether your specific type of dispute is actually one they can accept, since for a landlord's failure to carry out repairs, the Housing Authority or Rent Regulation Board is likely to be the more appropriate and directly applicable route.