Insights

Over the past year the Government of Malta has been fully supportive of initiatives taken in the blockchain space culminating in three Acts of Parliament which will come into effect in October 2018. The idea of extending legal personality to innovative technology arrangements has been under study since November 2017 and is the subject of planned legislation. Innovative technology arrangements, which are referred to in Maltese law as a combination of DLT and smart contracts, provide a context which is very similar to that of other operating assets which in the past were afforded legal powers and considered as legal persons to support them in achieving their declared purpose, addressing the important issues of legal capacity and liability, apart from other important issues. There are some disagreements on whether a centralised legal device is a good solution for decentralized technology. Some policy choices in support of legal certainty are also proposed, particularly limiting the benefits deriving from the concept of legal personality for innovative technology arrangements only to registered Maltese innovative technology foundations.

Click here to read the full article by Dr Max Ganado.