Employment and Industrial Relations Act (Cap. 452), article 21B

21B. (1) There shall be an appe als board to be called the "Employment Agencies Appeals Board" (hereinafter referred to as the "Appeals Board"), which shall ex ercise and perform the function s and powers assigned to it by law. (2) The Appeals Board shall consist of a Chairperson and two (2) other members selected by the Chairperson of the Appeals Bo ard, who shall possess different experiences to bring to the Appeals Board knowledge, so far as equally possi ble, of the interests in the claims lodged. Said members shall be selected from a panel of persons 16 CAP. 452.] EMPLOYMENT AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS appointed by the Minister to serve as members of the Appeals Bo ard, whenever the need arises, which p anel shall have more than two (2) persons. (3) The Minister shall appoint a panel of not less than two (2) and not more than five (5) persons to act as Chairpersons of th e Appeals Board either in turn or in accordance with such distrib ution of duties and subject to such provisions as to inability to serve and other circumstances, as may be p rescribed by the Minister. (4) The Chairpersons and member s shall satisfy the criteria according to sub-articles (5) or (6), and sub-articles (7) and (8) shall apply. (5) The Chairperson shall be an advocate who, for a period or periods amounting in the aggregate to not less than seven (7) y ears, has served as an advocate in Malta or served as a magistrate in Malta, or partly so practised a nd partly so served. (6) Subject to any other provision in any other law related to the composition of the Appeals Board or to the qualifications of it s members, the other members of th e Appeals Board shall be person s who in the opinion of the Minister possess the necessary expert ise and experience in the field of employment. (7) The Chairperson and the other members of the Appeals Board shall hold office for a pe riod of three (3) years, and sh all be eligible for re-appointment and may not be removed during their term of office except on grounds of proved inability to perform the functions of their office whether arising from infirmity of body or mind or any other cause, or proved misbehaviour. (8) The Chairperson and other members of the Appeals Board shall receive such remuneration as may be determined in their instrument of appointment. (9) An appeal in accordance with the provisions of sub-article (11) shall be made to the Appeals Board in writing explaining c learly the grounds for the appeal by not later than thirty (30) days f rom the date the decision or act in question has been notified to the a ggrieved person, and the Director shall have thirty (30) days from the d ate when it was served with such a ppeal to file his reply. (10) The Appeals Board shall proceed to deal with any matter before it with utmost urgency and shall give its decision witho ut delay. (11) The request for the determination of the Appeals Board sha ll be whether, for the reasons addu ced by the appellant, the Direc tor has wrongly applied any of the provisions of the regulations issued under this Act in relation to employm ent agencies in his decision. EMPLOYMENT AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS [ CAP. 452. 17 (12) The Appeals Board shall hold its sittings in public unless , having regard to the nature of the matter before it, the Appeal s Board deems it fit and proper to condu ct the proceedings or any part thereof behind closed doors. In any such case, the decision of the Appe als Board shall always be delivered in public. The address of the A ppeals Board shall be any such address which may be in use from time t o time as the head office of the department responsible for employment and industrial relations, and any co rrespondence shall be addressed to the Chairperson. (13) The chairperson or other members of the Appeals Board may be challenged or may abstain from sitting in a case in thos e circumstances that would disqualify a judge in a civil lawsuit, and in such case the Chairperson or mem ber shall be substituted by ano ther member appointed by the Ministe r in accordance with sub-article (2) or (3) as the case may be. (14) The Appeals Board shall have the power to summon witnesses and to administer the oath thereto, and to appoint an y expert as it may deem necessary for the determination of the case befo re it. When the Director is to be summoned as a witness, the Director shall have the right to nominate any officer of the Director’s depart ment to provide evidence, unless the evid ence of the Director is requir ed. (15) ( a) All evidence shall be relevant to the matter in issue between the parties. (b) In all cases the Appeals Board shall require the best evidence that the par ty may be able to produce. (c) The Appeals Board shall disallow any evidence which it considers to be irrelevant or superfluous, or which it does not consider to be the best which the party can produce. (16) Upon the hearing of an appeal made to it under any law, th e Appeals Board shall have the power: (a) to confirm, annul or vary the decision of the Director under any of the provisions of the regulations issued under this Act in relation to employment agencies and to give directions within its powers under this Act or any other law to the Director to implement the decision of the Appeals Board; (b) to require the production of any document or other information; and (c) to order the payment of expenses by any party to the appeal. (17) An appeal from a decision of the Appeals Board shall lie t o the Court of Appeal only on a que stion of law. An appeal shall be filed 18 CAP. 452.] EMPLOYMENT AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS by not later than twenty (20) days from the date of the decisio n of the Appeals Board. In the determination of such an appeal, the Cour t of Appeal shall have all the powers of the Appeals Board to make o rders. (18) The Minister may make regulations governing the procedure and fees for bringing and conducting appeals before t he Appeals Board: Provided that in the absence of such regulations and subject to the rules of natural justice, the Appeals Board shall regula te its own procedure. (19) The Minister responsible for justice may by regulations made under this sub-article estab lish the fees payable in the r egistry of the court for the filing of judicial acts in connection with ap peals to the Court of Appeal unde r this article: Cap. 12. Provided that until such fees are so established by the Minister responsible for justice, the fees established in Sched ule A to the Code of Organization and Civil Procedure shall apply. (20) An appeal made under this article shall not suspend the operation of any decision or directive from which the appeal is made: Provided that a decision to revoke, not to grant, or not to renew a licence, and any consequent forfeiture of the bank guar antee in terms of any of the provisions of the regulations issued und er this Act in relation to employment agencies shall not become operati ve until the expiration of the period within which an appeal lies under this article and, if an appeal is made within such period, the decis ion shall become operative on the date of the decision of the Appeals Boa rd dismissing the appeal or the date on which the appeal is abando ned: Provided further that where a licence in respect of which a decision to revoke has been made expires during the period with in which an appeal lies under this article and, if an appeal is ma de within such period, the licence shall be deemed to be automatically ex tended on the same terms until the expiration of the period within whi ch an appeal lies or, if an appeal is made within such period, until the date of the decision of the Appeals Boar d dismissing the appeal or the date on which the appeal is abandoned. Wages to be paid at regular intervals.