Drink-driving in Malta: limits, tests and penalties
Drink-driving in Malta is a criminal offence under the Traffic Regulation Ordinance (Cap. 65), not an administrative contravention that can be settled by paying a ticket. Article 15B forbids anyone to drive, attempt to drive or be in charge of a vehicle on a road or other public place with more alcohol in the breath, blood or urine than the prescribed limit; article 15A separately forbids driving while unfit, whatever the reading. The limits are set in article 15I: 22 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath (50 milligrammes in 100 millilitres of blood) for ordinary drivers, 9 microgrammes (20 milligrammes in blood) for commercial vehicles and holders of a probationary licence, and zero for buses, coaches and vehicles carrying passengers for a fee.
Act II of 2026 tightened the regime considerably: it added roadside drug testing, widened the power of the police to test, and raised the punishment in article 15H to a fine of not less than €4,000 on a first conviction and not less than €8,000 on a second, always with disqualification from driving.
This guide is for anyone stopped at a roadblock, tested after a collision or summoned before the Court of Magistrates. It explains when the police may test you, what a refusal means, how the evidence is produced and challenged, and what follows for your licence and your insurance.
Key facts
Deadline
Disqualification runs for not less than six months on a first conviction and not less than one year on a second or subsequent conviction (article 15H(2) of Cap. 65); if your breath reading is not more than 50 microgrammes you must ask on the spot for a blood or urine specimen to replace it (regulation 5 of S.L. 65.16); twelve penalty points accumulated within twelve months lead to loss of the licence (regulation 36B of S.L. 65.18); where a death is charged under article 225 of the Criminal Code, the decree suspending your licence may be appealed within five days (article 15K of Cap. 65).
What to do
Know which limit applies to you before you drive. Article 15I of the Traffic Regulation Ordinance (Cap. 65) sets four categories. For ordinary vehicles the limit is 22 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, 50 milligrammes in 100 millilitres of blood or 67 milligrammes in 100 millilitres of urine. For commercial vehicles, and for anyone holding a probationary driving licence, it is 9 microgrammes in breath, 20 milligrammes in blood or 27 milligrammes in urine. For buses, coaches, vehicles on priority duty and other vehicles carrying passengers for a fee, including taxis, the limit is zero.
The Minister responsible for the police may change these figures by regulations, so check the current text if you rely on them. The prohibition covers driving, attempting to drive and being in charge of the vehicle, on a road or any other public place.
Understand when the police may test you. Under article 15C a police officer may require a specimen of breath where he reasonably suspects that you are, or have been, driving with alcohol in your body, that you committed a traffic offence while the vehicle was in motion, or where your vehicle was involved in an accident. After a serious traffic accident, meaning one causing bodily harm or death, the officer must test every driver involved.
Since 2026 suspicion is not always needed. Drivers of buses, coaches and other passenger vehicles for hire may be tested at road checks without it, and article 15CB allows an officer to test any driver where he reasonably considers it necessary in the interests of public safety or public order. Community officers may also carry out breath tests and may forbid you to drive until the police arrive (article 15GA).
Cooperate with the roadside test and note what is said to you. A refusal does not protect you. Under article 15D the police may arrest you if the test suggests you are over the limit, or if you fail to provide a specimen after being warned that failure or refusal is an offence. Under article 15E(4) a person who refuses or fails to provide the requisite specimen is guilty of an offence and, unless the contrary is proved, is presumed to have been over the prescribed limit.
The only defence the article names is that you could not provide the specimen because of physical or mental incapacity, or because providing it would have entailed a substantial risk to your health. If that is your position, say so at once and ask that it be recorded; medical evidence will be needed later.
Follow the evidential procedure at the station. To establish the offence the police may require breath specimens for analysis on the approved device listed in the Breath Tests Regulations (S.L. 65.16), or specimens of blood and urine for analysis at an approved laboratory (article 15E(1)). The results are admissible in evidence and are presumed correct unless the contrary is proved.
One right is easily lost. Under regulation 5 of S.L. 65.16, if your breath specimen contains no more than 50 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, you may claim that it be replaced by a blood or urine specimen; if you then provide one, the breath specimen is not used. Blood counts as provided only if you consent to its being taken by a medical practitioner (article 15I(2)). You may be detained until it appears to the police that you are fit to drive (article 15G).
Expect a drug test as well, and bring any prescription. Article 15BA, added in 2026, forbids driving with any amount of a drug in the body, and article 15CA allows the police to take a specimen of oral fluid at the roadside. A positive preliminary test is followed by a confirmatory analysis in an approved laboratory under the Drug Driving Testing Regulations (S.L. 65.34).
For tetrahydrocannabinol the law sets a permissible level of two microgrammes per litre of blood for ordinary drivers, but none for drivers of commercial and passenger vehicles (article 15CD). If you hold a drug control card or take prescribed medication, produce the card or prescription after a positive test; article 15CC says expressly that this does not exclude further tests and does not exempt you from criminal responsibility. Alcohol combined with a drug removes the court's power to award the minimum punishment.
Prepare for the Court of Magistrates. You will be charged by summons or, after arrest, brought to court. Take legal advice before the first sitting: you have the right to a lawyer, and legal aid is available in criminal cases if you cannot afford one. Ask your lawyer to obtain the printout of the device, the record of the warning given before any refusal, the laboratory report and the chain of custody of blood or urine specimens.
Because the results are presumed correct, the burden of showing an error falls on you. Realistic lines of defence are that you were not driving or in charge of the vehicle, that the device was not the approved one, that regulation 5 was ignored, or that a refusal was medically justified.
Know the punishment the court must apply. Under article 15H, as amended in 2026, a first conviction under articles 15A, 15B, 15BA or for refusing a specimen carries a fine (multa) of not less than €4,000, and a second or subsequent conviction a fine of not less than €8,000. In addition the court must disqualify you from holding or obtaining a driving licence for not less than six months on a first conviction and not less than one year on a later one.
The court may add a probation order with a rehabilitation programme at your expense, or a community service order under the Probation Act (Cap. 446). It may order you to pay the analyst's fees (article 15E(5)) and, where a drug test was carried out, must order you to reimburse the police for its cost (article 15H(4)).
Take account of penalty points and of your insurance. The Sixth Schedule to the Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) Regulations (S.L. 65.18) lists driving with alcohol above the limit and failing to provide a specimen among the offences that carry penalty points, within a range of three to eleven points fixed by the court. The points system applies to full licences as well as probationary ones, and a holder who reaches twelve points within twelve months loses the licence (regulation 36B).
Your insurer must still compensate third parties: under the Motor Vehicles Insurance (Third-Party Risks) Ordinance (Cap. 104) a policy condition excluding cover because a passenger knew the driver was under the influence of alcohol has no effect against that passenger (article 6(2)). Whether the insurer may then recover from you depends on your policy; read the exclusion clauses and notify the insurer promptly.
If someone was hurt or killed, treat the case as one of a different order. Involuntary homicide under article 225 of the Criminal Code (Cap. 9) carries up to four years' imprisonment, but where it is committed by a person driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs a minimum of three years' imprisonment applies in every case, and the court may neither go below that minimum under article 21 of the Code nor apply the Probation Act. For grievous bodily harm caused by a driver under the influence, article 226 provides for up to four years' imprisonment or a fine of up to €8,000, or both.
In an article 225 case the prosecution must ask the court to suspend your licence while proceedings are pending. The decree takes effect immediately, and an appeal lies by application to the Criminal Court within five days (article 15K of Cap. 65).
What to watch out for
- Refusing the test in the belief that no reading means no proof. Refusal or failure to provide a specimen is itself an offence, creates a presumption that you were over the limit and carries the same punishment as drink-driving (articles 15E(4) and 15H of Cap. 65).
- Assuming the limit is the same for everyone. Probationary licence holders and drivers of commercial vehicles are held to 9 microgrammes in breath, and bus, coach and taxi drivers to zero (article 15I). One drink can be enough.
- Sitting in the driver's seat to sleep it off. The offence covers being in charge of a vehicle on a road or other public place, not only driving it (articles 15A and 15B).
- Not asking for a blood or urine specimen when the breath reading is 50 microgrammes or less. The right under regulation 5 of S.L. 65.16 must be claimed at the time; it cannot be exercised later in court.
- Relying on a prescription or a drug control card. Article 15CC requires you to produce it but states that it does not exempt you from criminal responsibility, and a combination of alcohol and a drug bars the minimum punishment.
- Driving during the disqualification. Driving while disqualified by order of a court is a separate offence listed in the Sixth Schedule to S.L. 65.18, carries its own penalty points and will weigh heavily in any later sentence.
- Treating a collision with injuries as a traffic matter. Charges under articles 225 and 226 of the Criminal Code are added to the Cap. 65 offence, and a death caused while under the influence means a minimum of three years' imprisonment.
Legal basis
Frequently asked questions
What is the legal alcohol limit for driving in Malta?
For ordinary drivers it is 22 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, 50 milligrammes in 100 millilitres of blood or 67 milligrammes in 100 millilitres of urine (article 15I of Cap. 65). In everyday terms that is a blood alcohol concentration of 0.5 grams per litre. Lower limits apply to commercial drivers and probationary licence holders, and a zero limit to drivers of buses, coaches and passenger vehicles for hire.
Can I refuse a breathalyser test in Malta?
You can, but it will not help you. Once you have been warned that refusal is an offence, the police may arrest you (article 15D). Refusing or failing to give the specimen is an offence in itself, the court presumes that you were over the limit unless you prove otherwise, and the punishment is the same as for drink-driving (articles 15E(4) and 15H). Only physical or mental incapacity or a substantial risk to health is a defence.
What is the fine for drink-driving in Malta in 2026?
Since the 2026 amendments, article 15H of Cap. 65 provides for a fine (multa) of not less than €4,000 on a first conviction and not less than €8,000 on a second or subsequent conviction. These are minimum figures; the court fixes the amount. It must also disqualify you from driving and may order you to pay the cost of the analysis.
How long will I lose my driving licence?
The court must disqualify you from holding or obtaining a licence for not less than six months on a first conviction and not less than one year on a second or subsequent conviction (article 15H(2)). The court may impose longer periods. Separately, penalty points awarded for the offence are recorded against your licence, and twelve points within twelve months lead to its loss under S.L. 65.18.
Can I ask for a blood test instead of the breath test?
Only within the limits of regulation 5 of the Breath Tests Regulations (S.L. 65.16): if the breath specimen contains no more than 50 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, you may claim that it be replaced by a blood or urine specimen, and the breath result is then not used. The police may also themselves require blood or two urine specimens in addition to breath (article 15E(1)).
Does Malta test drivers for drugs?
Yes. Since 2026 it is an offence to drive with any amount of a drug in the body (article 15BA), and the police may take oral fluid at the roadside, followed by a confirmatory laboratory test under S.L. 65.34. For tetrahydrocannabinol a level of two microgrammes per litre of blood is permitted for ordinary drivers only (article 15CD). The offence is not treated as one of drug possession.
Will I go to prison for drink-driving?
For the Cap. 65 offence alone, article 15H as now in force provides for a fine, disqualification and possibly probation or community service. Prison becomes a real prospect when someone is hurt or killed: grievous bodily harm caused while under the influence carries up to four years, and involuntary homicide a minimum of three years' imprisonment, without the benefit of the Probation Act (articles 225 and 226 of the Criminal Code).
Does my insurance pay if I crash while over the limit?
Compulsory third-party insurance exists to protect victims, and a clause denying cover to a passenger who knew the driver had been drinking is void against that passenger (article 6(2) of Cap. 104). Your own damage is a different matter: comprehensive policies commonly exclude it, and the insurer may seek to recover from you what it paid to others if the policy so provides. Check the wording.
Practical legal guides
Analyse my document →Legal guideContract templatesCountry home page