Can I film the police or officials on duty in Malta?
Yes — no Maltese law prohibits recording a police officer or warden while they carry out public duties in a public place. Such footage is often the best evidence in a case of abuse of authority. The real limit is not the camera but your conduct: under the Criminal Code (Cap. 9), obstructing an officer or disobeying a lawful order is an offence, and you can be arrested if you get too close, block them or refuse to move back when told. The myth: that the police can "order you to stop filming" or "make you delete the footage". Generally they cannot lawfully force you to stop recording in a public place or delete what you captured. In 2014, a BirdLife Malta representative was arrested for filming the police and released hours later with no charge. If you stay calm, do not block anyone and keep a reasonable distance, the law is generally on your side.
📋 The rules
- There is no law in Malta making it an offence to film or record a police officer or warden on duty in a public place.
- Obstructing an officer or failing to obey a lawful order is an offence under Cap. 9 and can lead to arrest.
- The police generally cannot validly order you to stop filming in public or to delete the footage.
- Recording for personal or journalistic use is covered by the exemptions in the data protection law (Cap. 586).
- If you publish footage that identifies other people, data protection questions can arise, although journalism is protected.
🔓 Exceptions
- In non-public places — such as inside a station or on private property — stricter recording rules may apply.
- If the recording is done in a way that physically obstructs a police operation, the obstruction itself becomes the offence, not the camera.
- National security sites or sensitive scenes may carry specific restrictions set out in other laws.
⚠️ Penalties & fines
Filming in itself carries no penalty, but obstruction or disobeying a lawful order can lead to arrest and a charge under Cap. 9. These are generally contraventions, carrying a fine and in some cases detention, but an arrest — even if you are released without charge, as in the 2014 case — means hours lost and possibly an entry in the police file. If you contest such a contravention before the Tribunal, you often have a good chance of winning as long as you show you stayed calm and did not genuinely obstruct. On the other hand, if you publish footage that exposes other people for no reason, you open yourself to a data protection complaint or a civil claim, so think before you broadcast someone's face.
📎 Official sources
- Laws of Malta · Criminal Code (Cap. 9) — obstruction of an officer →
- Office of the Information and Data Protection Commissioner (IDPC) →
- Malta Police Force · official site →
❓ Frequently asked
Can the police order me to stop filming?
Generally no — there is no law giving them the power to stop you filming in public or to make you delete the footage. They can still step in if your recording physically obstructs their work, and there the obstruction, not the filming, is the offence.
Can I post police footage online?
You can publish footage of public interest, and journalism is protected under the data protection law. However, if you publish scenes that identify uninvolved people for no purpose, you can expose yourself to a complaint before the IDPC.
What if a LESA warden tells me not to record?
A LESA warden is a public officer just like the police, and the same principle applies: you may record them on duty in a public place. Keep a reasonable distance and do not confront them, because disobedience or obstruction, not the filming, can earn you a contravention.
Can I be arrested for filming?
You can be arrested not for filming, but for obstructing or disobeying a lawful order while recording. In 2014 a BirdLife Malta representative was held for a few hours and then released without charge, which shows how weak a charge based only on filming is.
Is audio recording different from filming?
Recording a conversation you are yourself part of is generally allowed, while secretly recording other people's speech can raise separate issues. When you film the police in the open, the audio of your exchange with them normally falls under the same protection as the video.
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