Code of Organization and Civil Procedure (Cap. 12), article 187

187. (1) Service shall be effected by the delivery of a copy of the pleading to the person on whom the pleading is to be served, wh erever such person may be found. Service may also be effected by leavi ng such copy at the place of resid ence or business or place of wor k or postal address of such person with a member of his family or household or with a person in his service or with his attorney or person authorized to receive his mail. If service is not effected on a first attempt, the officer charged with the service shall make two ot her attempts to serve the copy of the pleading without further authorisations by the court and such attempts shall be made at different times of the day with the last attempt at service to be made af ter judicial hours. Each attempt of s ervice is to be made after the payment of the appropriate fee due to the registry. The officer charged with the service shall file a separate certificate of service for each a ttempt made in the acts of the proceedings: Provided that it shall not be lawful to leave such copy with CODE OF ORGANIZATION AND CIVIL PROCEDURE [CAP. 12. 63 any person under the age of fourteen years, or with any person who, at the time of the service, has a mental disorder or other condition, which renders him incapable of giving evidence of such service. A per son shall be presumed to be able to give such evidence unless the contrary is proved; and no objection may be raised on the groun d of irregularity of the service for any of those reasons, if it is shown that the copy has actually reached the person to be served therewith: Provided further that where a person to whom a pleading is addressed refuses to receive it pe rsonally from an executive of ficer of the courts, the court may upon an application by the interes ted party and after hearing the execu tive officer of the courts and considering all the circumstances of the incident, declare by m eans of a decree that service shall have been effected on the day an d time of the refusal and such decree shall be considered as a pr oof of service for all purposes of law. (2) In the case of persons on boa rd merchant ships, or members of the crew having no place of r esidence in Malta, service may be effected by delivering such copy to the master of the ship or a ny other person acting in that behalf. (3) If it appears from the certificate of the officer charged wi th the service of a writt en pleading or any j udicial act that, alt hough it does not result that the person upon whom such a pleading or ac t is to be served, is abroad, access to his place of residence canno t be obtained, or his place of residence in not known, the court may direct service to be effected by the posting of a copy of the w ritten pleading or act at the place, in the town or district in which official acts are usually posted up, and by publishing a summary of such written pleading or act in the Gazette and in one or more daily newspapers as the court may direct and, where possible, when th e residence is known, by posting up a copy of the pleading on the door leading to such residence. The court may also adopt such o ther measures as it may deem fit to br ing the pleading or act to the notice of the person upon whom the same is to be served. In suc h cases, service shall be deemed to have been made on the third working day after the date of last publication or after the date of such posting, whichever is the later. In cases where service ha s been ordered with urgency, ser vice shall be deemed to have been made at such time, after posting or publication as the court ma y determine, which time is to be s tated in the publication or pos ting. (4) In the case of a body having a distinct legal personality, service on such body shall be effected by leaving a copy of the pleading: (a) at its registered office, principal office, or place of business or postal address with any of the persons mentioned in article 181A(2) or with an employee of such body; or (b) with any of the persons men tioned in article 181A(2) in the manner provided for in sub-article (1). (5) If it appears from the certificate of the officer charged wi th the service of a written pleading that service as provided in s ub- 64 CAP. 12.] CODE OF ORGANIZATION AND CIVIL PROCEDURE article (4) has not been effected, the court may, if it appears that at least one of the persons mentioned in article 181A(2) is in Mal ta, direct service to be effected by the posting up of a copy of th e written pleading at the place in t he town or district in which official acts are usually posted up, where the body has its registered o ffice, principal office, or place of b usiness, and by publishing a sum mary of such written pleading in the Government Gazette and in one o r more daily newspapers as the cour t may direct and, where possib le, by posting up a copy of the pleading on the door of the registe red office, principal office, or place of business. The court may a lso adopt such other measures as it may deem fit to bring the plead ing to the notice of any of the per sons mentioned in article 181A(2 ). (6) Where it appears that all t he persons mentioned in article 181A(2) are absent from Malta or there exist no such persons, t he court shall appoint a curator in the interest of such body as provided for in article 929( d). (7) In the case of an action ag ainst a ship or other vessel, service shall be affected by the delivery of a copy of the plea ding to the master thereof or any other person acting in that behalf or , in the absence of such persons, on the agent of the ship or other vessel, as the case may be, or in the absence of such persons a nd agent, on curators appointed by the court in terms of article 9 29: Provided that the court may also adopt such other measures as it may deem fit to bring the pleading to the notice of the p erson upon whom the same is to be served. (8) Saving the provisions of article 193, service may also be effected by officers of the Post Office in such manner and unde r such rules in conformity with postal regulations as the Ministe r responsible for justice may or der by notice in the Gazette: Cap. 319. Provided that, applications of appeal, and sworn applications made under the provisions of the Constitution of Malta and the European Convention Act , shall be served by the executive officers of the courts. Accessibility of electoral register in electronic format. Added by: IV .2016.8.