Par. 1 — The Sovereign Military and Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes, and of Malta, arose from a group of hospitallers of the Hospice of Saint John of Jerusalem who had been called upon by circumstances to augment their original charitable enterprise with military service for the defence of pilgrims to the Holy Land and of Christian civilization in the East. It is a lay religious Order, by tradition military, chivalrous and nobiliary, which in time became sovereign on the islands of Rhodes and later of Malta.
Par. 2 — In nations where it exercises its activity in virtue of its rights or of international conventions, the Order’s structure comprises: Grand Priories, Priories, Subpriories and National Associations.
Par. 3 — In this Constitution and in the Code the Sovereign Military Order of Malta is also referred to as "the Order of Malta" or simply as "the Order".
Par. 4 — In the rules which follow, the Grand Priories and the National Associations are also referred to as Priories and Associations. The term Code refers to the Code of the Order.