A surname changed abroad can be carried into Maltese acts

The Civil Court, First Hall, Madam Justice Joanne Vella Cuschieri, decided B.E. vs Direttur tar-Reġistru Pubbliku on 28 July 2026. It ordered the Director of the Public Registry to correct the birth and marriage acts of a husband, wife and son, all Maltese and Swedish citizens living in Sweden, so that the Maltese register carries the surname the Swedish authorities granted them. The reason given is clarity and the avoidance of a double identity.

The facts

The husband was born in Iraq, in a region that used no surname system: his Iraqi birth act gave his own name and, as a surname, his grandfather's first name. He married a Maltese-born wife in Sweden in 1990. Three Maltese acts followed, each registered under article 244 of the Civil Code by transcribing a foreign act: the marriage act, the husband's birth act and the birth act of their son, born in Sweden in 1992.

The transcriptions did not agree with each other. The husband's first name and surname were spelt one way on his birth act and another on the marriage act; the wife appeared on the marriage act, and on the son's birth act, under the name she is known by rather than the name on her own Maltese birth act.

Later, on application to the Swedish Patent and Registration Office, all three were granted a new surname, which now appears in the Swedish population register, the tax agency's records and their Swedish passports. They asked the Maltese court to bring every act into line.

The Director answered that the case had been filed by a relative on their behalf, so the court should be satisfied of her authority; that the publication in the Government Gazette required by article 254 had to be shown; that he had made no error, having been bound to reproduce the foreign acts verbatim; that the applicants should explain the inconsistencies and prove the Swedish change clearly; and that costs should not fall on him.

What the court held

The preliminary points fell away: the power of attorney was in the acts, the husband and son testified in person on 15 July 2026, and the publication was exhibited.

On the merits the court heard the husband explain that his former surname is no longer his and that he, his wife and their son are officially known in Sweden by the new one; heard the son explain that his surname changed as a consequence of his parents'; saw the Swedish documentation of the change and the Swedish official documents bearing it; and read the wife's affidavit.

On the wife's first name it found from the documents that she was born with one name, is in fact known by another, and had never asked to change it, always insisting on the form of her birth name followed by the name she is known by; the marriage act had recorded only the second, an error then carried into the son's birth act.

The court concluded: “ai fini ta’ kjarezza wkoll sabiex tiġi evitata l-possibilità ta’ identità doppja, it-talbiet tar-rikorrenti huma ġustifikati” [for the sake of clarity and also to avoid the possibility of a double identity, the applicants' requests are justified].

It declared the first two pleas overtaken, rejected the rest so far as incompatible, and upheld all eight requests under article 253 et seq. of the Civil Code: a declaration that from the date of judgment the three are known in Malta by the Swedish surname; correction of the husband's birth act to the spelling on his Iraqi act and his marriage act, and then to the new surname, carried into the son's act; the addition of the known name after the birth name on the wife's birth act, and the same form on the marriage act and the son's act; the new surname on the marriage act and the son's birth act; marginal annotations on every act; and the change reflected in every other civil status act, this last limited to acts in the Director's power.

Costs fell on the applicants, since nothing was attributable to the Director.

Why it matters

Article 253 is the route for reconciling Maltese civil status acts with a status lawfully acquired abroad, not only for correcting clerical slips. The Director will not oppose a properly evidenced foreign change, but he will require the Gazette publication, proof of authority where a relative files, an explanation of every inconsistency, and he will not bear the costs. Assemble three things before filing: the foreign decision, the foreign register entries and the passports.

Where it sits

The case turns on articles 244, 253 and 254 of the Civil Code: registration of foreign acts by verbatim transcription, the court's power to order corrections of acts of civil status for valid reasons, and the publication requirement. The judgment names no earlier decision; the court decided on the articles alone.

Source

Civil Court, First Hall, 340/2026, 28 July 2026: 340/2026.