European property law
Squatters' rights in Malta: how long adverse possession takes
Thirty years of continuous, peaceful and public possession under article 2143 of the Civil Code, with no need for title or good faith. The ten-year route in article 2140 is for someone holding a title in good faith.
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- Statutory period
- 10 or 30 years
- What's different here
- an owner who ejects an occupant can be ordered to let them back
- Statute
- Civil Code (Cap. 16), arts. 2140 and 2143
Malta's Civil Code, Chapter 16, sets two periods of acquisitive prescription for immovable property. Article 2140 gives ownership after ten years to a person who possesses in good faith under a title capable of transferring ownership. Article 2143 bars every action after thirty years and says the absence of title or good faith cannot be raised against it, which is the route a squatter would have to take. Either way the possession has to be continuous, uninterrupted, peaceful, public and unequivocal.
The distinctive part of Maltese law is how strongly it protects possession itself. Under the actio spolii in article 535 of the Civil Code, a person dispossessed by violence or in secret can, within two months, ask the court to be put back in possession, and the court orders it even where the person who dispossessed them is the owner. Ownership is argued afterwards, in separate proceedings.
Taking the law into one's own hands is also a crime. Article 85 of the Criminal Code punishes anyone who, exercising a right they claim to have, disturbs another person's possession or interferes with their property on their own authority, with imprisonment of one to three months. An owner who changes the locks or throws out an occupant rather than going to court risks both.
Where Malta sits against the rest of Europe, in years
Of 31 places in Europe on these pages, 3 have a shorter clock and 10 a longer one or none at all.
How it unfolds
From the day someone moves in to the day a claim is possible
The same three stages in most places. The exact rule, and whether the last stage exists at all, is on each place's own page.
- Day oneMoving inCaught in the act, it is usually a matter for the police: a trespass, not a tenancy.
- Weeks to yearsSettled inOnce someone lives there, removing them usually takes a court order, the same route as for a tenant.
- After 10 or 30 yearsA claim becomes possibleOnly if every test held, without a break, for the whole period. Where the law allows no such claim, this stage never comes.
Not yours to do, once they have moved inChanging the locks, cutting the water or power, or removing belongings yourself. It is illegal in every US state and most places on these pages forbid it too. Each page says how removal works there.
Before it is ever a court case
The record a court asks for, kept as you go
Wherever your property stands, removing an occupant usually comes down to showing who had the right to be there, and since when. Dardaris files every lease, message and document for a building by date, so that record already exists on the day you need it.
- Every lease, with who signed it and when
- Every message with a tenant, on the thread it was sent in
- Every document, filed against the building it concerns
Frequently asked questions
How long is acquisitive prescription in Malta?
Ten years with good faith and a title capable of transferring ownership (Civil Code art. 2140), or thirty years without either (art. 2143). The possession must be continuous, peaceful, public and unequivocal throughout.
Can an owner in Malta be ordered to let an occupant back in?
Yes. Under the actio spolii (Civil Code art. 535), someone dispossessed by violence or clandestinely can sue within two months to be reinstated, and the court orders reinstatement even against the owner.
Can I change the locks on squatters in Malta?
Doing it on your own authority can be the criminal offence in article 85 of the Criminal Code, arbitrary exercise of a pretended right, and can expose you to an actio spolii. Removal of an occupant goes through the courts.
Elsewhere in Europe
The same question, on a different clock. Every place sets its own period and its own shortcuts.
This is general information, not legal advice.Laws change, and a county or a city can add its own wrinkle on top of the state rule, the way New York City does. Confirm the current rule for your address before acting on it, and talk to a local attorney before relying on any of it in a real dispute.
Know who is actually in your property, before it becomes a court case.
Hand over one building and see every lease checked against what is actually happening on the ground.
14 days before the first charge · Nothing is switched on until you say so