Moreover, Airmalta operates 35 flight routes mostly within Europe and the Mediterranean regions and most major European airlines have frequent flights to Malta. The workforce in Malta is largely efficient, English speaking and competitively priced. Malta grants tax and other incentives to foreign persons or firms setting up business in Malta, including low rents for factories and low interest loans. During the last fifteen years, Malta has developed into a modern financial centre and today ranks along with the major financial centers within the Mediterranean region. Moreover, Maltese law is divided into two main branches, broadly speaking.
Civil law is based on the Napoleonic Code, itself based on the older Roman Law concepts.
Therefore, particularly in the older spheres of civil law, especially those concerning property, contracts, obligations and so on, Maltese law is very similar to French and Italian law and reference is often made to French and Italian legal writers in the interpretation of Maltese law. In the Criminal Law field, Malta has borrowed heavily from the British system. Today Malta is amending its body of laws to bring it into line with the laws of the European Union for which Malta has applied for membership and is now in the process of negotiations. The Magistrates Courts tries lesser criminal offences and refers graver criminal offences to the Criminal Court, if there are grounds for so doing. The Magistrates Court also has jurisdiction over civil law cases where the claim is more than Lm250 and less than Lm1,000.