The proviso outlined in Article 3 and Article 4 of the said Regulations which states the following:

Provided that for reasons of security, the Minister may in his absolute discretion not publish the names of such persons

shall be omitted in its entirety. Article 3 regulates the publication of names of Maltese citizens by registration or naturalization, whereas Article 4 regulates the publication of names of persons deprived of Maltese citizenship.

Prior to the amendments brought about by Legal Notice 1 of 2021, it was within the absolute discretion of the Minister to choose whether to not publish the names of such persons, if he deems necessary due to security reasons however this is no longer an option. Therefore, all names of persons who obtain Maltese citizenship or whom are deprived thereof shall be published in the Gazette.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.