ACT No. VI of 2007 AN ACT to amend the Criminal Code, Cap. 9.

I assent.

E DWARD F ENECH A DAMI

President

27th April, 2007

ACT No. VI of 2007

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>

The title of this Act is the Criminal Code (Amendment) Act,

2007, and this Act shall be read and construed as one with the Criminal

Code, hereinafter referred to as “the Code”.

In sub-article (1) of article 121A of the Code, for the words

“to one year” there shall be substituted the words “to eighteen months”.

In article 121B of the Code, for the words “to one year” there

shall be substituted the words “to eighteen months”.

For sub-article (3) of article 433 of the Code there shall be

substituted the following sub-articles>

“(3) Finally, the Attorney General may, within one month

from the day on which the record of inquiry shall have been

transmitted to him, apply to the Criminal Court for the issue of a

warrant for the arrest of any person discharged by the Court of

Magistrates. The provisions of sub-articles (3A) and (3B) shall

apply to an application made under this sub-article.

(3A) The application shall be appointed for hearing and shall

be served on the person discharged together with a notice of the

date of the hearing.

(3B) Where the Criminal Court is of the opinion that there

are sufficient grounds for an indictment to be filed against the

person discharged it shall forthwith issue a warrant for the arrest

of that person< and in such case the term for filing the indictment

shall commence to run from the day of the arrest.

(3C) Where the person discharged fails to make an

appearance at the hearing without good cause the Court shall order

his arrest in order to appear for the hearing of the application.”.

(1) The provisions of this article shall apply in respect of Transitory

Provisions.

any person (hereinafter in this article referred to as “relevant person”)

who, before the coming into force of this Act>

(a) was discharged by the Court of Magistrates as a court

of criminal inquiry and re-arrested in pursuance of a warrant issued

by the Attorney General under the provisions of article 433 of the

Code before its amendment by this Act< and

(b) has not been convicted or acquitted, whether by a

judgement of first instance or on appeal, of the charges against

him.

(2) The provisions of article 433 of the Code as amended

by this Act shall, subject to the provisions of the following sub-articles

of this article, apply in respect of a relevant person.

(3) Where an application under article 433 of the Code as

amended by this Act is made in respect of a relevant person by virtue of

this article the following provisions shall apply>

(a) the period of one month mentioned in article 433 of the

Code as amended by this Act shall commence to run from the date

of the coming into force of this Act<

(b) the application shall not contain a request for the issue

of a warrant of arrest of the relevant person but shall instead contain

a request for a declaration that on the date the relevant person was

discharged there were sufficient grounds for an indictment to be

filed against him<

(c) if the Criminal Court is of the opinion that on the date

the relevant person was discharged there were sufficient grounds

for an indictment to be filed against that person the court shall so

declare in its decision on the application and shall order the

continuation of the proceedings against the relevant person<

(d) if the Criminal Court is of the opinion that on the date

the person was discharged there were not sufficient grounds for an

indictment to be filed against that person the court shall order his

discharge.

Passed by the House of Representatives at Sitting No. 517 of 24th April, 2007.

A NTON T ABONE

Speaker

R ICHARD J. C AUCHI

Clerk to the House of Representatives

Mitbug[ fl-Istamperija tal-Gvern — Printed at the Government Printing Press

Lm0.16c (€0.37)