The Chapter General of the Order of Malta is the legislative body of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. The Constitution describes it as "the supreme organ of governance of the Order."[1]: Constitution Article 28  It meets every six years, mostly recently on 1-2 May 2019.[2]

Membership

The Chapter General is made up of the following members: [1]: Constitution Article 29 

The Grand Commander
The Grand Chancellor
The Grand Hospitaller
The Receiver of the Common Treasure
Five members of the Council of the Professed
Four members elected by the Chapter General from the members of the Order of the First and Second Classes

Meetings

The Chapter General normally meets every six years and is convoked by the Grand Master. [1]: Constitution Article 8 

It can also meet:

The Chapter General met most recently 1-2 May 2019 with 62 members.[2]

Its previous meetings were 30-31 May 2014 with 61 members,[3] 8 June 2009 with sixty members,[4] and 4-6 June 2004.[5]

An Extraordinary Chapter General was held 28-30 April 1997 for the revision of the Constitutional Charter and Code.

Responsibilities

The Chapter General has the following responsibilities: [1]: Constitution Article 30 

Membership from 1991 to 2022

Before the promulgation of the 2022 Constitution, the Chapter General had the following members: [6]: Constitution Article 22 

Structure before 1798

Before the French invasion of Malta in 1798, the Chapter General had a slightly different composition and a somewhat different form of working.

The members included:[7]

Since it was considered that this body was too numerous for creating and establishing laws, the members of the Chapter General divided into the eight Langues. The members in each Langue then elected two of their number to form the Sixteen.[7] The Sixteen were joined at their meetings by the Procurator of the Grand Master, the Vice-Chancellor, and the Secretary of the Treasury.[8]

Each meeting of the Chapter General lasted fifteen days; the Sixteen could extend this term for an additional eight days.[9]

The Code did not fix a particular frequency for meetings of the Chapter General. Instead, at the end of each meeting, a date was set for the next meeting.[10] The Chapter General of 1631 ordered that the next meeting take place in 1641, but in fact it did not occur until 1776.[10]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d Carta Costituzionale e Codice (PDF). Rome: Sovereign Military Order of Malta. 2022-09-03. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  2. ^ a b "The Chapter General of the Sovereign Order of Malta has been held in Rome". Orderofmalta.int. 2 May 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-05-04.
  3. ^ "The Chapter General of the Sovereign Order of Malta was held in Rome". Orderofmalta.int. 31 May 2014. Archived from the original on 2017-02-02.
  4. ^ "The Order of Malta chapter general". Orderofmalta.int. 8 June 2009. Archived from the original on 2017-03-22.
  5. ^ "The Order of Malta chapter general". Orderofmalta.int. 8 June 2004. Archived from the original on 2018-10-12.
  6. ^ Constitutional Charter and Code (PDF). Rome: Sovereign Military Order of Malta. 1997-04-30. Retrieved 2022-09-03.
  7. ^ a b Antonio Micallef, Lectures on the Statutes of the Sacred Order of St. John of Jerusalem at the University (of Studies) of Malta 1792, edited by Wolf-Dieter Barz and Michael Galea, translated by Michael Galea (Karlsruhe, Germany: KIT Scientific Publishing, 2012), 51.
  8. ^ Micallef, 52.
  9. ^ Micallef, 54.
  10. ^ a b Micallef, 53.
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