New law bars 16-year-olds from entertainment places
Matthew Vella
The government has tightened admission laws for bars and places of entertainment that sell alcohol, by barring entry to anyone aged 16.
Previously, teenagers who had reached 16 years of age were allowed to enter bars and purchase alcoholic beverages because the police code’s restrictions applied to persons “under the age of sixteen”.
The new laws now make it mandatory for proprietors to apply for a special permission to admit teenagers under 17 inside a place of entertainment.
But the permission is subject to the condition that wines, beers or spirits are not displayed, served, sold or consumed on the premises. This effectively makes it impossible for bars and entertainment places that serve alcohol to admit 16-year-olds.
The new rules will also make it illegal for owners of bars and places of entertainment to allow anybody aged 16 or under to “enter or loiter at the entrance of any bar… where barmaids or artistes are employed” – this particular clause in the police code has been updated from the original law, enacted back in 1948.
Sixteen-year-olds will also have to produce their identity card to enter places which are permitted to admit them. Proprietors found in breach of this regulation will be liable to a €233 fine for every person under 17 found inside his place of entertainment.
Additionally, they will incur a maximum fine of €931, and in the case of a second or subsequent conviction the fine can be as much as €2,333.
“This legal change had to be done for uniformity, because the law as it previously stood allowed 16-year-olds to be admitted without being served alcohol,” said Philip Fenech, the GRTU’s president of its tourism division.
“Socially, we want to be in uniformity with other European countries. There was this perception among English-language students that they could come to Malta and drink as much they want. So this new restriction will raise standards for the industry. People should know the Malta Tourism Authority offers one-off licences for non-alcoholic events, but bars have to dismantle all alcohol, and must have police supervision.”
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