Parliament of Malta

The House is composed of an odd number of members elected for one legislative term of five years. Ordinarily, five members are returned from each of thirteen electoral districts using the single transferable vote electoral system but additional members are elected in cases of dis-proportionality (where a party with an absolute majority of votes fails to win an absolute majority of seats and where only candidates from two parties are elected).

Between 1921 and 2015, the House of Representatives was housed in the Grandmaster's Palace in Valletta.[1] Since 4 May 2015 the House of Representatives has met in the Parliament House, near the city gate of Valletta.

The Standing Orders of the House provide for the creation of eight Parliamentary Standing Committees to make parliamentary work more efficient and enhance Parliament's scrutiny functions.

The Standing Committees are:

• Standing Committee on House Business
• Standing Committee on Privileges
• Standing Committee on Public Accounts
• Standing Committee on Foreign and European Affairs
• Standing Committee on Social Affairs
• Standing Committee on Consideration of Bills
• Standing Committee on Family Affairs
• Standing Committee on Economic and Financial Affairs

Other Standing Committees constituted by other statutes include:

• Standing Committee on Environment and Development Planning
• National Audit Office Accounts Committee
• Standing Committee for Public Appointments
• Committee for Standards in Public Life

There are also select committees and non-official committees.