Queen Elizabeth II was sovereign of Malta, and a Governor-General exercised executive authority on her behalf, while the actual direction and control of the government and the nation's affairs were in the hands of the cabinet under the leadership of a Maltese Prime Minister, the leader of the party that wins a majority of parliamentary seats in a general election for the unicameral House of Representatives.

On 13 December 1974, under the Labour government Dom Mintoff, the constitution was revised, and Malta became a republic within the Commonwealth, with executive authority vested in a Maltese President, who is appointed by Parliament and who in turn, appoints as Prime Minister.

The entire territory is divided into thirteen electoral districts each returning five MPs to a total of 65.

To date this mechanism, intended to counteract gerrymandering, came into effect twice: for the Sixth and the Eighth Parliaments.

[2] It safeguarded the fundamental human rights of citizens, and forced a separation between the executive, judicial and legislative powers, with regular elections based on universal suffrage.

These were: On 27 July 1960, the Secretary of State for the Colonies declared to the British House of Commons the wish of Her Majesty's Government to reinstate representative government in Malta and declare that it was now time to work out a new constitution where elections could be held as soon as it was established.

The Secretary, Iain Macleod, also notified the House of the appointment of a Constitutional Commission, under the chairmanship of Sir Hilary Blood, to devise thorough constitutional schemes after consultation with representatives of the Maltese people and local interests.

That same day, the Secretary of State declared to the House of Commons that Her Majesty's Government had taken a decision.

At that time Malta was still a colony and responsibility for defence and external affairs were referred to Her Majesty's Government.

[6] Another important characteristic of this constitution was an innovative introduction of a chapter covering the safeguarding of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms of the Individual.

It consisted of fifty members and they were elected by universal suffrage from ten electoral divisions on the system of proportional representation by the single transferable vote.

When in 1964 Malta did in fact become independent, because the Government chose to avoid breaking all ties with the United Kingdom, there was legal continuity of the legislation, as a result of which Parliament remained functional.

The Malta Independence Order itself developed into the subject of an entrenchment, since here it is declared that this evolved into an extension to the 1961 Constitution even in the sense of an amendment.

[10] On 14 April 2014, the anti-discrimination provision of constitution is amended to include sexual orientation and gender identity.

[11] In 2020, following a review by the Council of Europe's Venice Commission, the constitution was amended to reduce the powers of the Prime Minister.