ACT No. VI of 2005 AN ACT to amend the Criminal Code, Cap. 9 BE IT ENACTED by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the House of Representatives, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same as follows>

I assent.

E DWARD F ENECH A DAMI

(L.S.)

President

6th June, 2005

ACT No. VI of 2005

AN ACT to amend the Criminal Code, Cap. 9

BE IT ENACTED by the President, by and with the advice and

consent of the House of Representatives, in this present Parliament

assembled, and by the authority of the same as follows>

(1) The short title of this Act is the Criminal Code

(Amendment) Act, 2005.

(2) The provisions of this Act shall be read and construed

as one with the Criminal Code, hereinafter referred to as “the principal

law”, and they shall come into force on such date as the Minister

responsible for justice may by notice in the Gazette appoint, and different

dates may be so appointed for different provisions and for different

purposes thereof.

Immediately after Sub-title IV of Title IX of Part II of Book

First of the principal law there shall be inserted the following>

“Sub-title V

OF ACTS OF TERRORISM, FUNDING OF TERRORISM

AND ANCILLARY OFFENCES

328 A. (1) For the purposes of this sub-title, “act of

Acts of

terrorism.

terrorism” means any act listed in subarticle (2), committed

wilfully, which may seriously damage a country or an

international organization where committed with the aim of>

(a)

seriously intimidating a population, or

(b) unduly compelling a Government or

international organization to perform or abstain from

performing any act, or

(c) seriously destabilising or destroying the

fundamental political, constitutional, economic or social

structures of a country or an international organization.

(2) The acts to which reference is made in subarticle

(1) are the following>

(a)

taking away of the life or liberty of a person<

(b)

endangering the life of a person by bodily

harm<

(c)

bodily harm<

(d) causing extensive destruction to a state or

government facility, a public transportation system, an

infrastructure facility, including an information system,

a fixed platform located on the continental shelf, a public

place or private property likely to endanger the life or to

cause serious injury to the property of any other person

or to result in serious economic loss<

(e) seizure of aircraft, ships or other means of

public or goods transport<

(f) manufacture, possession, acquisition,

transport, supply or use of weapons, explosives or of

nuclear, biological or chemical weapons<

(g) research into or development of biological and

chemical weapons<

(h) release of dangerous substances, or causing

fires, floods or explosions endangering the life of any

person<

(i) interfering with or disrupting the supply of

water, power or any other fundamental natural resource

endangering the life of any person<

(j) threatening to commit any of the acts in

paragraphs (a) to (i) above>

Provided that in this subarticle “state or government

facility”, “infrastructure facility” and “public transportation

system” shall have the same meaning assigned to them in

sub-article (4) of article 314A.

(3) Whosoever commits an act of terrorism shall be

guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to the

punishment of imprisonment from five years to life.

328 B. (1) For the purpose of this sub-title “terrorist

group” means a structured group of more than two persons,

established over a period of time and acting in concert to

commit terrorist offences.

(2) In sub-article (1) “structured group” means

a group that is not randomly formed for the immediate

commission of an offence and that does not need to have

formally defined roles for its members, continuity of its

membership or a developed structure.

(3) Whosoever promotes, constitutes,

organises, directs, finances, supplies information or materials

to, a terrorist group knowing that such participation or

involvement will contribute towards the criminal activities

of the terrorist group shall be liable –

(a) where the said participation or involvement

consists in directing the terrorist group, to the punishment

of imprisonment not exceeding thirty years>

Provided that where the activity of the terrorist

group consists only of the acts mentioned in paragraph

(j) of article 328A(2) the punishment shall be that of

imprisonment for a period not exceeding eight years<

(b) in any other case, to the punishment of

imprisonment not exceeding eight years.

328 C. (1) Whosoever, with the intention of

committing any of the acts listed in paragraphs (a) to (i) of

article 328A(2) or in article 328B -

(a) commits an offence of theft aggravated as

provided in article 261< or

(b) commits the offence in article 113 or 250< or

(c) commits an offence of forgery or the offence

in article 188,

shall be liable to the same punishment laid down in article

328A (3).

328 D. Whosoever incites, aids or abets any offence

under the aforegoing articles of this sub-title shall be guilty

of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to the

punishment laid down for the offence incited, aided or abetted.

328 E.

(1)

In this sub-title, “terrorist property”

means –

(a) money or other property which is likely to be

used for the purposes of terrorism, including any

resources of a terrorist group,

(b) proceeds of the commission of acts of

terrorism, and

(c) proceeds of acts carried out for the purposes

of terrorism.

(2) In sub-article (1) –

(a) a reference to proceeds of an act includes a

reference to any property which wholly or partly, and

directly or indirectly, represents the proceeds of the act

(including payments or other rewards in connection with

its commission), and

(b) the reference to a group’s resources includes

a reference to any money or other property which is

applied or made available, or is to be applied or made

available, for use by the group.

328 F. (1) Whosoever receives, provides or invites

another person to provide, money or other property intending

it to be used, or which he has reasonable cause to suspect that

it may be used, for the purposes of terrorism shall, on

conviction, and unless the fact constitutes a more serious

offence under any other provision of this Code or of any other

law, be liable to the punishment of imprisonment for a term

not exceeding four years or to a fine (multa) not exceeding

five thousand liri or to both such fine and imprisonment.

(2) In this article a reference to the provision

of money or other property is a reference to its being given,

lent or otherwise made available, whether for consideration

or not.

328 G. (1) Whosoever uses money or other property

for the purposes of terrorism shall, on conviction, be liable to

the punishment of imprisonment not exceeding twelve years.

(2) Whosoever is in possession of money or

other property intending it to be used, or having reasonable

cause to suspect that it may be used, for the purposes of

terrorism shall, on conviction, be liable to the punishment

laid down in sub-article (1) of article 328F.

328 H. Whosoever -

arrangements.

(a) enters into or becomes concerned in an

arrangement as a result of which money or other property

is made available or is to be made available to another,

and

(b) knows or has reasonable cause to suspect that

the money or other property will or may be used for the

purposes of terrorism,

shall on conviction be liable to the punishment laid down in

sub-article (1) of article 328F.

328 I. (1) Whosoever enters into or becomes

concerned in an arrangement which facilitates the retention

or control of

or control by or on behalf of another person of terrorist

property -

(a)

by concealment,

(b) by removal from the jurisdiction,

(c)

by transfer to nominees, or

(d) in any other way,

shall, on conviction, be liable to the punishment laid down in

sub-article (1) of article 328F.

(2) It is a defence for a person charged with an

offence under sub-article (1) to prove that he did not know

and had no reasonable cause to suspect that the arrangement

related to terrorist property.

328 J. (1) The provisions of article 121D shall apply

where a person is found guilty of an offence under this sub-

title sohowever that the body corporate shall for such offence

be liable to the punishment of a fine (multa) of not less than

5,000 liri and not more than 1,000,000 liri.

(2) The body corporate shall also be held liable

for an offence under this sub-title where the lack of supervision

or control by a person referred to in article 121D has made

possible the commission of the offence for the benefit of the

body corporate, which shall upon conviction be liable to the

punishment laid down in sub-article (1).

328 K. Without prejudice to any other punishment to

which the offence may be liable under this Code or any other

law, where the offender is a body corporate liable to

punishment under the provisions of article 328J the Court

may, at the request of the prosecution, order –

(a) the suspension or cancellation of any licence,

permit or other authority to engage in any trade, business

or other commercial activity<

(b) the temporary or permanent closure of any

establishment which may have been used for the

commission of the offence<

(c) the compulsory winding up of the body

corporate.

328 L. (1) The court by or before which a person is

convicted of an offence under any of articles 328F to 328I

may make a forfeiture order in accordance with the provisions

of this article.

(2) Where a person is convicted of an offence

under articles 328F or 328G the court may order the forfeiture

of any money or other property –

(a) which, at the time of the offence, he had in

his possession or under his control and,

(b) which, at that time, he intended should be

used, or which he knew or had reasonable cause to

suspect would or might be used, for the purposes of

terrorism.

(3) Where a person is convicted of an offence

under article 328H the court may order the forfeiture of the

money or other property –

(a)

to which the arrangement in question related,

and

(b) which, at the time of the offence, he knew or

had reasonable cause to suspect would or might be used,

for the purposes of terrorism.

(4) Where a person is convicted of an offence

under article 328I the court may order the forfeiture of the

money or other property to which the arrangement in question

related.

(5) Where a person is convicted of an offence

under any of articles 328F to 328I, the court may order the

forfeiture of any money or other property which wholly or

partly, and directly or indirectly, is received by any person as

a payment or other reward in connection with the commission

of the offence.

(6) Where a person other than the convicted

person claims to be the owner of, or otherwise interested in,

anything which can be forfeited by an order under this article,

the court shall give him an opportunity to be heard before

making an order.

328 M. Without prejudice to the provisions of article

5, the courts in Malta shall also have jurisdiction over the

offences laid down in this sub-title where –

(a) the offence is committed even if only in part

in the territory of Malta or on the sea in any place within

the territorial jurisdiction of Malta<

(b) the offender is a Maltese national or permanent

resident in Malta<

(c) the offender is a person suspected or convicted

of an offence laid down in this sub-title and whose

surrender or extradition to another country for such an

offence is refused by Malta even if there is no provision

according to the laws of Malta other than the present

provision in virtue of which the criminal action may be

prosecuted in Malta against that person<

(d) the offence is committed for the benefit of a

legal person established in Malta<

(e) the offence is an offence under article 328B

or an offence under article 328D which involves a

terrorist group even if the terrorist group is based or

pursues its criminal activities outside Malta<

(f) the offence is committed against the

institutions or people of Malta or against an institution

of the European Union or a body set up in accordance

with the Treaties and based in Malta>

Provided that for the purposes of this paragraph>

“the European Union” shall have the same

meaning assigned to it by article 2(1) of the

European Union Act<

“the Treaties” means the Treaty establishing

the European Community done at Rome on the 25 th

March, 1957 and the Treaty on European Union

done at Maastricht on the 7 th February, 1992, and

the Protocols annexed thereto.”.

Article 337A of the principal law shall be amended as follows> Amendment of

article 337A of

the principal law.

(a) the present provision thereof shall be renumbered as sub-

article (1)<

(b) immediately after the words “attempt to leave” there

shall be inserted the words “or to transit across or to attempt to

transit across”< and

(c) for the words “three degrees.” in the proviso thereto,

there shall be substituted the words “three degrees>” and

immediately thereafter there shall be added the following new

proviso>

“Provided also that where the offence is committed-

(a)

as an activity of a criminal organization< or

(b) while endangering the lives of the persons

aided, assisted, counseled, procured or the object of the

conspiracy as aforesaid,

the punishment shall always be increased by two degrees even

when the first proviso does not apply.”<

(d) immediately after sub-article (1) as renumbered there

shall be inserted the following new sub-article>

“(2) Without prejudice to the provisions of article 5,

the courts in Malta shall also have jurisdiction over the offence

in this article where –

(a) the offence is committed even if only in part

in the territory of Malta or on the sea in any place within

the territorial jurisdiction of Malta<

(b) the offender is a Maltese national or permanent

resident in Malta<

(c) the offence is committed for the benefit of a

legal person established in Malta.”.

Immediately after article 337A of the principal law there shall

be inserted the following new article>

337B. The provisions of articles 328J and 328K shall

apply mutatis mutandis to any offence under Sub-title IV of

this title and to the offence in article 337A.”.

The Prevention of Money Laundering Act shall be amended Amendment

the Prevention of

as follows and shall be read and construed accordingly>

Money Laundering

Act, Cap. 373.

(a)

in article 12 thereof>

(i) in sub-article (1), immediately after the words

“money laundering” there shall be inserted the words “and

funding of terrorism”< and

(ii) in sub-article (2), immediately after the words

“money laundering” there shall be inserted the words “or

funding of terrorism”<

(b) in article 14 thereof, in the definition “subject person”,

immediately after the words “money laundering” there shall be

inserted the words “or funding of terrorism”<

(c)

in sub-article (1) of article 16 thereof>

(i) in the opening paragraph and in paragraph (j),

immediately after the words “money laundering” wherever

they occur there shall be inserted the words “and funding of

terrorism”< and

(ii) other than in the opening paragraph and in

paragraph (j), immediately after the words “money

laundering” wherever they occur there shall be inserted the

words “or funding of terrorism”<

(d) in sub-article (1) of article 28 thereof, immediately after

the words “money laundering” there shall be inserted the words

“or funding of terrorism”<

(e) in article 29 thereof, immediately after the words “money

laundering” wherever they occur there shall be inserted the words

“or funding of terrorism”<

(f) in sub-article (1) of article 30, immediately after the

words “money laundering” wherever they occur there shall be

inserted the words “or funding of terrorism”<

(g) in article 31 thereof, immediately after the words “money

laundering” wherever they occur there shall be inserted the words

“or funding of terrorism”<

(h) in article 32 thereof, immediately after the words “money

laundering” there shall be inserted the words “or funding of

terrorism”<

(i) sub-article (4) of article 34 thereof shall be amended as

follows>

(i) in paragraph (c), for the words “of this Act>” there

shall be substituted the words “of this Act< or” and

immediately thereafter there shall be inserted the following

new paragraph>

“(d) any offence of funding of terrorism>”

(ii) in the proviso, immediately after the words “from

the said offence” there shall be inserted the words “or of funds,

assets or other property used for the purpose of funding of

terrorism”.

Passed by the House of Representatives at Sitting No. 273 of 30th May, 2005.

A NTON T ABONE

Speaker

R ICHARD J. C AUCHI

Clerk to the House of Representatives