This year, don’t ride your horse on the streets during rush hour, and don’t smoke in a car with your children present, but feel free to make and distribute pornography – within limits.

These are just some of the rules, from the game-changing to the very specific, the routine to the hugely controversial, brought in by a range of new laws introduced in 2016, closing off some possibilities and opening up others.

The two that made international headlines were on the weightier end of the scale, both pushing the country further into progressive territory: the ban on gay conversion therapy and the removal of religious vilification as a criminal offence.

Approved just this month, the ban on gay conversion drew little controversy but much interest, as just five years since the legalisation of divorce, it capped a long line of pro-LGBT legislation pioneered by the government.

Not so with the repeal of religious vilification laws, which had been in place since 1933.  The changes introduced in July were strongly disputed by the Opposition and, unsurprisingly, the Catholic Church, prompting Archbishop Charles Scicluna to ask God’s forgiveness for legislators.

The Church disputed the law, prompting the Archbishop to ask God’s forgiveness for legislators

The same law also decriminalised pornography while making “revenge porn” illegal, although a largely unremarked-upon clause also imported controversial “extreme pornography” laws from Britain: making illegal, among other things, staged depictions of non-consensual sex acts.

But not all the laws introduced this year had such a wide-reaching impact: new regulations on falconry – meaning enthusiasts must now obtain a licence following an exam and follow set guidelines in housing and transporting their birds of prey – are unlikely to affect many people outside the small community of local falconers.

Drivers of horse-drawn carriages (not including karozzini) also have new regulations to adhere to: number plates for the 111 licenced carriages on the streets, specifically, as well as high-visibility vests for riders and a ban on animals and carriages on the road during morning and evening rush hours.

Smokers have had their options curbed: Malta became the sixth country in Europe to ban smoking in cars in the presence of children under 16. Drivers and passengers breaking the new law will face a €50 fine.

On the other hand, gaming operators were given reason for cheer in August, when the government loosened gaming laws further, including exempting fantasy sports operators from the requirement of obtaining a remote gaming licence.

There was also welcome news for developers, as the Planning Authority introduced a controversial new scheme allowing property owners to easily regularise illegal developments by paying a fee.

And one other piece of good news may not have made headlines but marked a big step for the deaf community: Maltese Sign Language was recognised as an official language of Malta.

Thanks to new laws introduced in 2016…

You can…

• Run a fantasy football league without a licence.
• Make your illegal building legal by paying a fee.
• Satirise, offend or make fun of any religion.
• Communicate in a new official language – Maltese Sign Language.
• Distribute pornography, but not “revenge porn”.

You cannot…

• Smoke in a car if children are there.
• Drive a horse-drawn carriage (or a horse) during rush hour.
• Carry a falcon in your vehicle without a travel box and hood.
• Share explicit private images of another person without their consent.
• Practise conversion therapy on gay people.