The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta, better known as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta or SMOM, is a Catholic lay order and claims to be a sovereign entity and which has permanent observer status at the United Nations. SMOM is considered to be the most direct successor to the medieval Knights Hospitaller, also known as the Knights of Malta, and today operates as a largely charitable and ceremonial organization.

International status of the Order

The exact nature of the entity is somewhat nebulous and subject to controversy: it claims to be a traditional example of a sovereign entity other than a country. Its two headquarters in Rome, namely the Palazzo Malta in Via dei Condotti 68 (where the Grand Master resides and Government Bodies meet), and the Villa Malta on the Aventine (which hosts the Grand Priory of Rome, the Embassy of the Order to Holy See and the Embassy of the Order to Italy), are granted with extraterritoriality. However, unlike Vatican City, SMOM has no sovereign territory. The United Nations does not classify it as a "non-member state" but as one of the "entities and intergovernmental organizations having received a standing invitation to participate as observers." While the International Telecommunication Union has granted radio identification prefixes to such quasi-sovereign jurisdictions as the United Nations and the Palestinian Authority, SMOM has never received one. For awards purposes amateur radio operators consider SMOM to be a separate "country," but stations transmitting from there use an entirely unofficial callsign starting with the prefix "1A0 (http://www.arrl.org/awards/dxcc/list_1a0.html)".

Although some scholars accept a claim to sovereign status, leading experts in international law, notably Dr. Ian Brownlie, Dr. Helmut Steinberger, and Dr. Wilhelm Wengler, do not take into account its ambassadorial status among many nations. The Holy See in 1953 proclaimed "in the Lord's name" that it [the Order of Malta] was only a "functional sovereignty" - due to the fact that it did not have all that pertained to true sovereignty.

SMOM has formal diplomatic relations with Holy See and 92 countries currency.

Government of the Order

The proceedings of the Order are governed by its Constitutional Charter and the Order's Code. It is divided internationally into various territorial Grand Priories, Priories, and Sub-Priories.

The supreme head of the Order is the Grand Master, who is elected for life by the Council Complete of State. Voters in the Council include the members of the Sovereign Council, other office-holders and representatives of the members of the Order. The Grand Master is aided by the Sovereign Council, which is elected by the Chapter General, the legislative body of the Order. The Chapter General meets every five years; at each meeting, all seats of the Sovereign Council are up for election. The Sovereign Council includes six members and four High Officers: the Grand Commander, the Grand Chancellor, the Grand Hospitaller and the Receiver of the Common Treasure. The Grand Commander is the chief religious officer of the Order and serves as "Interim Lieutenant" during a vacancy in the office of Grand Master. The Grand Chancellor is responsible for the administration of the Order. The Grand Hospitaller coordinates the Order's humanitarian and charitable activities. Finally, the Receiver of the Common Treasure is the Order's financial officer.

The Order's finances are audited by a Board of Auditors, which includes a President and four Councillors, all elected by the Chapter General. The Order's judicial powers are exercised by a group of Magistral Courts, whose judges are appointed by the Grand Master and Sovereign Council.