Customs law : 1814 to 1921 with emphasis on the Customs Ordinance of 1909

Abstract

This thesis aims at presenting a historic-legal narrative on the development of Customs legislation under the British rule. It centres on the evolution of the legislation regulating the collection of Customs duties and culminates with the promulgation of the Customs Ordinance of 1909. The first chapter, by way of introduction outlines the conception of Customs and the birth of Customs legislation on a global level. It purports to give an outline of the first traces of Customs in the Maltese Islands based on customary Law and later delves into the heterogeneous and homogenous legislative interlude under the Order of St. John Next, the second chapter treats the initial Customs tariffs and the first Customs legislative attempts under the British rule. The milestone in the second chapter is evidenced through the annihilation of the categorical difference established under the Order of St. John distinguishing between the legislation governing the importation of grain from all other articles subject to import duties. Chapter three illustrates one of the major legislative overhauls of the twentieth century through the repeal of all Customs legislation since the Code De Vilhena and the Code De Rohan. This chapter depicts the end of a Customs legislative era and the beginning of a new epoch governed by a Customs tariff scheme and supported by the consolidation of old and new mechanisms regulating the collection of duties on imports under Ordinance VI of 1840 followed by a few amendments. The fourth chapter focuses on the Customs legislative developments peaking at the dawn of the twentieth century through the promulgation of the Customs Ordinance of 1909, the first of its kind in Customs legislative history. Whilst the fifth chapter delves into the role of the Customs Establishment, highlighting its developments throughout the nineteenth and twenty century as a revenue-earning department. Furthermore emphasis is placed on the Customs Department instructions developing from mere practise to the undeniable authority of Regulations under the auspices of the Customs Ordinance of 1909.