Announcements

 

Academy Documents

Kindly access the Students' Policies & Forms by clicking on the button below. The following documents, among others, can be found there: Student Handbook, Student Code of Conduct, Students' Privacy Notice, Deferral, Suspension, and Cancellation Policy, Assignment Extension Policy, Re-Sit Policy, Complaints Procedure Policy, Equality Policy, and Student Disciplinary Policy.

Students' Policies & Forms

 

Online Sessions Link

To join the online sessions for this module, please click on the button below. If you are not already signed in to your Zoom account, you will be prompted to register your attendance. You will also need to enter the password provided below.

Join Session

Meeting ID: 891 4867 0925
Passcode: 414730

Please ensure that your name and surname appear as registered for the study programme, as this is essential for recording your attendance.

 

Lecture Schedule & Notes

Lecture notes will be available during the week following the respective lecture. Schedule dates are indicative and may change. All changes, if any, may be communicated via email, SMS or telephone calls.

LectureDateTimePresentationNotes (If Any)Session Recoring
Lecture 0122 October 202417:30 to 20:30hrsPresentation 01Request
Lecture 0229 October 202417:30 to 20:30hrsPresentation 02Request
Lecture 035 November 202417:30 to 20:30hrsPresentation 03Request
Lecture 0412 November 202417:30 to 20:30hrsPresentation 04Request
Lecture 0519 November 202417:30 to 20:30hrsPresentation 05Request
Lecture 0626 November 202417:30 to 20:00hrsPresentation 06Request
Lecture 073 December 202417:30 to 20:00hrsPresentation 07Request
MCQ Session10 January 202518:00 to 18:30hrs

 

Lecturer 

Dr Nicola Buhagiar

Dr Louisa Firman

Dr Nicola Jaccarini

 

Lecture Summaries & Suggested Reading 

Lecture 1 - Commercial Partnerships - Dr Nicola Buhagiar

  • The different forms of commercial partnership (partnerships en nom collectif, partnership en commandite and the limited liability company) and their uses
  • The principal features of the limited liability company
  • The process for the incorporation of a limited liability company
  • The role and function of the Malta Business Registry
  • The constitutional documents of a limited liability company

Core Reading List

Supplementary Reading List

  • Attard, D., 2015. The Maltese Legal System
  • n.d. Butterworths Company Law Handbook 31St Edition. LexisNexis Butterworths.
  • n.d. Charlesworth's Company Law 18Th Edition. Sweet & Maxwell.

 

Lecture 2 - Share Capital - Dr Nicola Buhagiar

  • Share capital
  • The difference between share capital and debt capital
  • The difference between authorised share capital and issued share capital
  • Classes of shares
  • The process for the issue of shares in a company
  • The process for the transfer/ transmission of shares in a company
  • Pledging of shares
  • The capital maintenance doctrine (reduction of issued share capital, financial assistance, distribution of dividends, purchase of own shares)

Core Reading List

Supplementary Reading List

  • Attard, D., 2015. The Maltese Legal System
  • n.d. Butterworths Company Law Handbook 31St Edition. LexisNexis Butterworths.
  • n.d. Charlesworth's Company Law 18Th Edition. Sweet & Maxwell.

 

Lecture 3 - Corporate Governance, meetings and resolutions - Dr Louisa Firman

  • The interplay between corporate governance and company law
  • Basic principles of corporate governance
  • Shareholder Decision Making - EGM or AGM, Class Meetings
  • Shareholders’ Resolutions - Extraordinary and Ordinary
  • Principle of Majority Rule and the Protection of Minority Rights

Core Reading List

Supplementary Reading List

  • Attard, D., 2015. The Maltese Legal System
  • n.d. Butterworths Company Law Handbook 31St Edition. LexisNexis Butterworths.
  • n.d. Charlesworth's Company Law 18Th Edition. Sweet & Maxwell.

 

Lecture 4 - Officers of the company (Part 1) - Dr Louisa Firman

  • Functions and responsibilities of the board of directors
  • Various types of directors
  • Appointment and removal of directors
  • Other offices of the company: Company secretary
  • Auditors

Core Reading List

Supplementary Reading List

  • Attard, D., 2015. The Maltese Legal System
  • n.d. Butterworths Company Law Handbook 31St Edition. LexisNexis Butterworths.
  • n.d. Charlesworth's Company Law 18Th Edition. Sweet & Maxwell.

 

Lecture 5 - Officers of the Company (Part 2) - Dr Nicola Jaccarini

  • Powers and duties of the board of directors
  • Liability of directors
  • Functions and duties of the company secretary

Core Reading List

Supplementary Reading List

  • Attard, D., 2015. The Maltese Legal System
  • n.d. Butterworths Company Law Handbook 31St Edition. LexisNexis Butterworths.
  • n.d. Charlesworth's Company Law 18Th Edition. Sweet & Maxwell.

 

Lecture 6 - Dissolution and winding-up of a company and the company recovery procedure- Dr Nicola Jaccarini

  • Dissolution and winding-up of a limited liability company. In particular, the lecture will discuss the two modes of winding-up, namely, the process of the voluntary winding-up of a company and the process of the court winding-up of a company
  • Wrongful and fraudulent trading
  • Company Recovery Procedure

Core Reading List

Supplementary Reading List

  • Attard, D., 2015. The Maltese Legal System
  • n.d. Butterworths Company Law Handbook 31St Edition. LexisNexis Butterworths.
  • n.d. Charlesworth's Company Law 18Th Edition. Sweet & Maxwell.

 

Lecture 7 - The Price Club Case and Q&A- Dr Louisa Firman

  • Overview of wrongful trading and fraudulent trading
  • The Price Club Case
  • Legislative Update: EU Directive on Insolvency and Restructuring (Pre-Insolvency Act, Commercial Code Amendment Act, Insolvency Practitioners Act)
  • State of bankruptcy
  • Filing of bankruptcy
  • The bankruptcy trustee
  • Bankruptcy process
  • The role of the insolvency practitioner
  • Authorised IP
  • The function of the public registry

Core Reading List

Supplementary Reading List

  • Attard, D., 2015. The Maltese Legal System
  • n.d. Butterworths Company Law Handbook 31St Edition. LexisNexis Butterworths.
  • n.d. Charlesworth's Company Law 18Th Edition. Sweet & Maxwell.

 

Methods of Assessment

Multiple Choice Question Exam 20% of final score

2 Assignments 80% of final score

 

Multiple Choice Question Exam

The MCQ exam will be held on Friday 10 January, 2025 at 18:00hrs. There will be 20 questions to be answered. Students will receive a link to a Google form, just before the session starts, where they will be expected to input the answers which are correct. During the MCQ exam a slide having the question and possible answers will be displayed for 45 seconds while the tutor reads out the question and possible answers. Once students submit all the answers they will receive their score and a copy of the answers by email.

 

Assignment

You are required to choose two of the four questions available in the Assignment Submission Form made available by clicking the button below. The assignment must be submitted no later than Thursday, 23 January 2025, along with the Assignment Submission Form. Please ensure that you indicate the question you have addressed on the Assignment Submission Form.

Assignment Submission Form

For guidance on how to plan, draft, and submit your assignment, please refer to the 21 Academy presentation on Writing and Submitting Your Assignment by clicking the button below.

Writing and Submitting Your Assignment

We are also providing the 21 Academy's Assignments Rubric for your reference. This rubric is a performance-based assessment tool that tutors will use for grading, and it will help you understand the requirements of the assignment and how it will be assessed.

Assignments Rubric

For referencing purposes, please use the OSCOLA Referencing Guide available by clicking the button below.

OSCOLA Referencing Guide

 

Submitting Assignment - Turnitin

The Academy will notify you via email when the assignment questions become available. Shortly after, you will receive another email from Turnitin, likely on the same day, confirming your enrolment in a "class" where you can upload your assignment(s).

Please ensure that your assignments are submitted no later than 23:59 on the assignment submission deadline, as indicated on the Assignment Submission form or in the Turnitin "class."

At 21 Academy, you have the option to submit multiple drafts before the final submission deadline. The version uploaded at the deadline will be treated as your final submission for assessment. Please note that Turnitin evaluates the same assignment twice within a 24-hour period, so any additional submissions during this time will not be reviewed until the 24-hour period has passed. Ensure that your final submission does not exceed 20% similarity, particularly when using direct quotations.

Follow this very short video to understand how to submit your assignment through Turnitin

Submitting a Paper

To understand the similarity report generated by Turnitin follow this 1 minute video

Understanding the Similarity Report

 

Referencing Style

Law students should use the OSCOLA referencing style as it is the standard citation system for legal writing in Malta. It ensures consistency, accuracy, and clarity when referencing legal sources, which is essential for academic and professional work. The video below provides detailed guidance on how to reference using OSCOLA. Please also refer to the OSCOLA Referencing Guide by clicking the button below

OSCOLA Referencing Guide