Both entities issued this directive mainly because the Identità form gives the option to attest the signatures without witnessing the signing, the Times of Malta reported after speaking with spokespersons of the council and the chamber.

Notaries are responsible for guaranteeing legal certainty and without witnessing the signature, they cannot assure that the person signing the document is who they say they are. This compromises their duties and the council emphasised that a rental agreement should only be signed if all parties signed in their presence and verified identification with the relevant document/s.

The Chamber of Advocates shared this argument and similarly pointed out that it was not previously informed of this change and is requesting clarification.

“Until further directive is issued by the Chamber, lawyers are directed not to fill up or put their signatures on that form.”

This is not the only update in the Identità saga with Times of Malta revealing that dozens of third-country nationals have registered their addresses at properties linked to Gozitan construction moguls Joseph Portelli and Mark Agius without actually living there.

The newsroom further revealed that some of these individuals falsely registered as living at these addresses applied for the sanctioning of penthouses in a Sannat apartment complex built by Agius.

One person successfully sanctioned (PA/03869/24) two penthouses in the complex despite a court of appeal declaring these penthouses illegal after they were built.

Two more of these applications issued by these falsely registered individuals for sanctions on properties they do not own have not yet been approved or rejected.