Superintendence for Cultural Heritage

The Superintendence of Cultural Heritage is the Maltese national agency for regulation, protection and accessibility of cultural heritage. Created by the Cultural Heritage act, enacted in 2002, the national agency replaced the former Museum Department along with Heritage Malta.

The Superintendence is responsible for the surveillance of activities related to the control, direcrion, monitoring, regulation, investigation and recording of cultural heritage in Malta.

History
Two laws governing heritage issues were enacted in the 1990s. The first was the Environment Protection Act (No V of 1991), the second The Environment and Planning Development Act (No 1 of 1992), which aims to regulate and establish modern planning procedures. The latter established critical principles of scheduling and grading of historic buildings, and  introduced the concepts of urban conservation areas and protective zoning. The Grand Harbour Local Plan (realised by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority), in force since 2002, contains policies that specifically protect the World Heritage property

The Cultural Heritage Act (No VI of 2002, am. 2005) paved the way for the formation of three entities, namely the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage, Heritage Malta and the Malta Centre for Restoration (which was merged with Heritage Malta in 2005). The Act also provides for the creation of Religious Cultural Heritage Commissions, which have the same powers and responsibilities as the Superintendent of Cultural Heritage. However, the latter has no jurisdiction over Church property.

Functions
Functions of the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage include:


 * Heritage Planning Consultation
 * Built Heritage Restoration Monitoring
 * National Inventory and Scheduling
 * Archaeological Monitoring
 * Archaeological Research and Investigations
 * Underwater Cultural Heritage
 * Movement of Cultural Heritage Items
 * Guardianship for Heritage Sites
 * Monitoring of Movable Heritage Conservation
 * National and International Obligarions
 * Policy Development
 * Restoration Bonds