# How this site is made

- URL: https://procurelex.mt/en/methodology
- Updated 2026-11-10
- Draft – awaiting legal review
- Legal basis: regulation 2, regulation 9, Schedule 5

Where the texts come from, how they are read and checked, what has been reviewed and what has not.

## What the site shows

The site shows [four instruments of Maltese subsidiary legislation](https://procurelex.mt/en/legislation) on public procurement: the [Public Procurement Regulations](https://procurelex.mt/en/ppr) (S.L. 601.03) and the regulations on utilities (S.L. 601.05), on defence and security (S.L. 601.07) and on concession contracts (S.L. 601.09). Each is shown whole, regulation by regulation and Schedule by Schedule.

Both the Maltese and the English texts are official; where they conflict, the Maltese text prevails. A page in Maltese shows the Maltese text and a page in English shows the English text: neither is a translation made by us.

The text on the site is the consolidated version that legislation.mt publishes. Where this site and legislation.mt differ, legislation.mt prevails. The list below gives, for each instrument, the date of the version shown, the day its file was downloaded and the digest of that file.

## How the texts are read

legislation.mt publishes the instruments as PDF files only. We download the file of each official text, record its address and its SHA-256 digest, and read the text from it by program:

- the letters are read one by one from the page, because the ordinary text layer of these files loses the spaces between words on justified lines;
- the structure is read from the layout: Part, heading, regulation, sub-regulation, paragraph and sub-paragraph, the marginal note that names each regulation, and the Legal Notices the margin says amended it;
- every provision gets the same key in both languages, so that [regulation 9](https://procurelex.mt/en/ppr/9) and its sub-regulations are at the same address in Maltese and in English. The Maltese text letters its third paragraph «(ċ)» where the English has «(c)».

## How the reading is checked

Automatic tests run on every change:

- the regulations of each instrument follow one another without gaps;
- the Maltese and the English text of each instrument have the same regulations, sub-regulations, paragraphs and sub-paragraphs;
- every threshold on the [thresholds page](https://procurelex.mt/en/thresholds) is checked against the words of the provision it is read from;
- every reference this site makes to a provision names a provision that exists.

These tests check that the text was read faithfully. They do not check what the law means.

## Thresholds

The [thresholds page](https://procurelex.mt/en/thresholds) shows two values where they differ: the one printed in the consolidated text ([regulation 9](https://procurelex.mt/en/ppr/9), [Schedule 5](https://procurelex.mt/en/ppr/schedule-5) and the equivalent provisions of the other instruments) and the one that applies from 1 January 2026 according to Contracts Circular 02/2026 of the Department of Contracts. The consolidated text can be behind the thresholds in force, which is why both are shown, each with its source.

## Glossary

The [glossary](https://procurelex.mt/en/glossary) is not written by us. It is the list of terms that [regulation 2](https://procurelex.mt/en/ppr/2) defines, each with its official definition in the language of the page and its name in the other official text. The pairing of the English and the Maltese term was made by hand, because the definitions are in alphabetical order in each language, and it is checked by tests.

## Known limits

- The tables of the Schedules are shown line by line as printed, not set in columns.
- The title of a few Schedules is read incompletely.
- In a few places one official text prints a heading over a group of regulations and the other does not; the site shows each text as it is printed.
- References to other provisions are links only on the English pages. The lists of what a regulation refers to, and of what refers to it, are shown in both languages.
- Earlier versions of the instruments are not on the site yet.

## What has been reviewed

Nothing on this site has been signed by a lawyer yet.

- The text of the law is the official text. It is read by program and checked as described above.
- The explanatory pages (guides and frequently asked questions) are drafts until [Mara Ribeiro Duarte](https://procurelex.mt/en/people/mara-ribeiro-duarte), who coordinates the legal review, has validated them. Each page says whether it has been reviewed, by whom and when; the list below gives the status of every one.
- The Maltese wording of the site itself (menus, headings, notices such as this page) was written by Procurelex with the terminology of the official texts and has not yet been reviewed by a native speaker. The text of the law is not affected: it is the official Maltese text.

## Not legal advice

The site gives general information. It is not legal advice and does not replace reading the official text or consulting a lawyer about a specific case.